Hyogaiji
Encyclopedia
, literally characters from outside the table (also and ) are Japanese kanji
outside the two major lists Jōyō
, which are taught in primary and secondary school, and Jinmeiyō
, which are additional kanji that officially are allowed for use in personal names.
Because hyōgaiji is a catch-all category for "all unlisted kanji", there is no comprehensive list, nor is there a definitive count of the hyōgaiji. The highest level of the Kanji kentei
(test of kanji aptitude) tests approximately 6,000 characters, of which thus 3,000 are hyōgaiji, while in principle any traditional Chinese character or newly coined variant may be used as hyōgaiji; the traditional dictionaries the Kangxi Dictionary
and the 20th century Dai Kan-Wa jiten
contain about 47,000 and 50,000 characters, respectively, of which thus over 40,000 would be classed as hyōgaiji or non-standard variants if used in Japanese.
(shinjitai), hyōgaiji are officially printed with traditional forms
(kyūjitai), like 臍.
However, unofficial simplified forms exist, known as , like 𦜝 – these come by applying the same simplification processes as in the development of shinjitai.
The newspaper Asahi Shimbun
developed its own simplified characters, known as Asahi characters
, and they have their own unicode
code points.
Some of these simplifications are part of the standard JIS X 0208
and later versions.
), rather than their official printed form. Well-known examples include:
Some characters are provided in both their official and simplified forms, as is the case with 攪 (official printed form) and 撹 (simplified variant), but most of these characters are provided in one form only. Thus, unlike the aforementioned "Asahi characters", simplifications are not comprehensive, meaning that hyōgaiji are rendered as a mix of both standard classical forms and unofficial simplifications. This is perhaps most obvious in the archaic kanji spelling of pan ("bread"), 麺麭. The characters, both hyōgaiji, are displayed with a simplified and an unsimplified "barley" radical side-by-side, which can be visually jarring. The lack of an unsimplified variant in many fonts leaves the user with no choice but to reproduce the word as shown above.
The use of hyōgaiji in computer fonts was brought to the fore with the 2007 launch of Mac OS X v10.5
"Leopard". This release included the fonts Hiragino Mincho Pro N and Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro N, which reproduce hyōgaiji in their official printed forms.
A related weakness (though less relevant to modern language use) is the inability of most commercially-available Japanese fonts to show the traditional forms of many Jōyō kanji, particularly those whose component radicals have been comprehensively altered (such as in , in , and in or , rather than their traditional forms as used in , , and ). This is mostly an issue in the verbatim reproduction of old texts, and for academic purposes.
, which draw from ancient literature.
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
outside the two major lists Jōyō
Joyo kanji
The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...
, which are taught in primary and secondary school, and Jinmeiyō
Jinmeiyo kanji
The are a set of 861 Chinese characters known as the "name kanji" in English. They are a supplementary set of characters that can be legally used in registered personal names in Japan, despite not being in that country's set of "commonly used characters" . As a rule, registered personal names may...
, which are additional kanji that officially are allowed for use in personal names.
Because hyōgaiji is a catch-all category for "all unlisted kanji", there is no comprehensive list, nor is there a definitive count of the hyōgaiji. The highest level of the Kanji kentei
Kanji kentei
The , also known as , or , is a test of kanji ability.There are 12 levels with level 10 being the easiest and level 1 the most difficult. The test examines ability to read and write kanji, to understand their meanings and use them correctly in sentences, and to identify correct stroke order...
(test of kanji aptitude) tests approximately 6,000 characters, of which thus 3,000 are hyōgaiji, while in principle any traditional Chinese character or newly coined variant may be used as hyōgaiji; the traditional dictionaries the Kangxi Dictionary
Kangxi dictionary
The Kangxi Dictionary was the standard Chinese dictionary during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Kangxi Emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty ordered its compilation in 1710. The creator innovated greatly by reusing and confirming the new Zihui system of 596 radicals, since then known as 596 Kangxi...
and the 20th century Dai Kan-Wa jiten
Dai Kan-Wa jiten
The is a Japanese dictionary of kanji compiled by Morohashi Tetsuji. Remarkable for its comprehensiveness and size, Morohashi's dictionary contains over 50,000 character entries and 530,000 compound words...
contain about 47,000 and 50,000 characters, respectively, of which thus over 40,000 would be classed as hyōgaiji or non-standard variants if used in Japanese.
Traditional and simplified forms
While jōyō and jinmeiyō nowadays are printed using simplified formsShinjitai
Shinjitai are the forms of kanji used in Japan since the promulgation of the Tōyō Kanji List in 1946. Some of the new forms found in shinjitai are also found in simplified Chinese, but shinjitai is generally not as extensive in the scope of its modification...
(shinjitai), hyōgaiji are officially printed with traditional forms
Kyujitai
Kyūjitai, literally "old character forms" , are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are shinjitai, "new character forms". Some of the simplified characters arose centuries ago and were in everyday use in both China and Japan,...
(kyūjitai), like 臍.
However, unofficial simplified forms exist, known as , like 𦜝 – these come by applying the same simplification processes as in the development of shinjitai.
The newspaper Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
developed its own simplified characters, known as Asahi characters
Asahi characters
are forms of Kanji particular to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Unlike Simplified Chinese, where simplifications apply to all characters, the general custom in Japanese publications is to print Jōyō/Jinmeiyō Kanji in simplified Shinjitai forms, and to print Hyōgaiji using their original,...
, and they have their own unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
code points.
Some of these simplifications are part of the standard JIS X 0208
JIS X 0208
JIS X 0208 is a 2-byte character set specified as a Japanese Industrial Standard, containing 6879 graphic characters suitable for writing text, place names, personal names, and so forth in the Japanese language. The official title of the current standard is...
and later versions.
Japanese computer fonts
The issue of variant non-Jōyō character forms becomes apparent when using many commonly-available Japanese fonts. While characters not frequently used generally retain their traditional forms, those commonly used in Japanese writing frequently are reproduced in their unofficial simplified form (extended shinjitaiExtended shinjitai
is the extension of the shinjitai simplification method to : kanji not included in the jōyō kanji list. They are unofficial characters: the official forms of hyōgaiji are kyūjitai .-Simplified forms:...
), rather than their official printed form. Well-known examples include:
- 麺 (MEN, "noodles"; with simplified radical, instead of official 麵),
- 掴 (KAKU, tsuka(mu), "grip"; with simplified onpu, rather than official 摑), and
- 鴎 (Ō, kamome, "seagull"; with simplified onpu, rather than official 鷗).
Some characters are provided in both their official and simplified forms, as is the case with 攪 (official printed form) and 撹 (simplified variant), but most of these characters are provided in one form only. Thus, unlike the aforementioned "Asahi characters", simplifications are not comprehensive, meaning that hyōgaiji are rendered as a mix of both standard classical forms and unofficial simplifications. This is perhaps most obvious in the archaic kanji spelling of pan ("bread"), 麺麭. The characters, both hyōgaiji, are displayed with a simplified and an unsimplified "barley" radical side-by-side, which can be visually jarring. The lack of an unsimplified variant in many fonts leaves the user with no choice but to reproduce the word as shown above.
The use of hyōgaiji in computer fonts was brought to the fore with the 2007 launch of Mac OS X v10.5
Mac OS X v10.5
Mac OS X Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Leopard was released on 26 October 2007 as the successor of Tiger , and is available in two variants: a desktop version suitable for personal computers, and a...
"Leopard". This release included the fonts Hiragino Mincho Pro N and Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro N, which reproduce hyōgaiji in their official printed forms.
A related weakness (though less relevant to modern language use) is the inability of most commercially-available Japanese fonts to show the traditional forms of many Jōyō kanji, particularly those whose component radicals have been comprehensively altered (such as in , in , and in or , rather than their traditional forms as used in , , and ). This is mostly an issue in the verbatim reproduction of old texts, and for academic purposes.
Uses
Hyōgaiji are often used in the names of wagashiWagashi
is a traditional Japanese confectionery which is often served with tea, especially the types made of mochi, azuki bean paste, and fruits.Wagashi is typically made from natural ingredients...
, which draw from ancient literature.