Above is the kanji for "Shakushigakudo"
is how "Jazz" is spelled in Chinese. Since, unlike Japanese,
Chinese has no letters that amount to the Japanese "kana",
our alphabetic letters that are the phonetic symbols, so they depict
words of foreign origin using kanji, only. They are very good at choosing
the characters that have both pronunciation and meaning close to the
original foreign word.
Thus, [Jazz] written in Chinese is
while, in Japanese, we write ,
in kata-kana, the square form of the Japanese alphabet, which is what
we use in writing words of foreign origin. (With original Japanese,
we use hira-gana, the cursive form of the kana.) Of course, the pronunciation
in both cases is "Jazz", or something close enough to it,
so that it is relatively easy for anyone to understand.
Now, in Japanese,
= shaku
this letter depicts rank of peerage, for instance, duke=ko-shaku,
count=haku-shaku,
baron=dan-shaku
= shi this
letter means a male of some standing sumo wrestler=rikishi(the
letter , pronounced
"riki" "ryoku" or "chikara" means power
or strength, btw), samurai=bushi
= gaku this
letter means music, or having to do with music, music=ongaku
(
is pronounced "on" or "oto" meaning sound), instrument=gakki
Hence, "Shakushigaku".
Do= This letter
stands for certain kinds of buildings, such as halls for worship or
for entertaining guests. It is also sometimes used in names of specialty
stores selling ware of very high quality.
Together, "Shakushigakudo" meaning, Jazz Hall, or Jazz Shop,
well, master is master.
Now, you may have noticed the "Duke" and
the "Count". Yes, that's right, Duke
Ellington and Count Basie. According to the prof, it seems that because
of their
nicknames, the Chinese thought that renowned jazz musicians were titled
people,
and that is why they used the letters
and as well
as music.
A great example of superb word play with kanji.
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