SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF THE KANJI FOR THE CHARACTER ONNA HEN IN THE MANGA KARIAGE KUN VOL. 49

Abstract

Kanji are Chinese letters that originated in mainland China during the Han era, with each character having a unique meaning and significance. Kanji letters first appeared in Japan in the fourth or early fifth centuries. In Japan, kanji letters are part of the hyoui-moji set of letters that express meaning. The majority of kanji have two pronunciations: onyomi and kunyomi. On-yomi is a method of reading kanji that uses ancient Chinese pronunciation. Meanwhile, kun-yomi is a method of reading characters in Japanese. Bushu, or basic characters, are the most significant portion of a kanji because they can communicate a broad range of meanings. Understanding the meaning of a kanji, both as a fundamental character and when joined with other kanji-forming characters, can be facilitated by being familiar with each bushu. Bushu can also simplify the process of seeking up a kanji's definition in a dictionary. Semiotic analysis is the pertinent theory in this study because kanji is a sign. The study of signs is known as semiotics. In an attempt to learn more about bushu in a kanji, the author looked into onna hen, one of the bushu characters that are employed in kanji. The reason the author picked bushu is that onna hen, are examples of basic kanji. The manga Kariage kun Vol. 49 is the source of the data. According to the research's findings, each kanji's bushu onna hen represents the tasks and responsibilities that are allotted to women, including sweeping or going to the market. There are also some that exemplify the characteristics of women, like bearing children. A different kanji, meanwhile, stands for the function and standing of men and women in marriage.