Talk:当て字

Defintions

I'm a little fuzzy how the two definitions given as of 03:12, 30 April 2006 (UTC) differ. They're given as:

1. A kanji compound whose component characters are related only by sound and not by meaning.
2. A kanji character whose presence in a kanji compound is for euphony instead of meaning, e.g. 無 (な, na) in 水無月 (みなつき, minatsuki).

To wit, both explain the use of kanji characters for euphony rather than meaning. Also, between the "spelling" of 当て字 and looking into a J-J dictionary, it seems the word refers to the characters themselves rather than any compounds. I'm tempted to ditch definition #1 altogether, but what do others think? -- Eiríkr Útlendi | Tala við mig 04:16, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

The first definition at least needs to be modified to refer to individual kanji. I don't know whether it's also worthwhile to clarify that ateji can have purposes other than euphony, e.g. the examples 合羽 and 倶楽部 from w:Ateji. Rodasmith 05:19, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I find it interesting when I run across examples of 当て字 when the characters are clearly used not for euphony, but rather for "euonymy" as it were, commonly seen in names such as a Japanese boy named 騎士 (pronounced naito), or my own Japanese moniker 永王 for Eiríkr -- 永 for ei (forever) and 王 for ríkr (king). Naturally, these oddball usages require furigana for folks to know how the devil to pronounce them "correctly", but such instances are not all that uncommon, as you point out too with 合羽 and 倶楽部. I think it might bear mentioning, but in my current drowsy state I fail to think of how best to express this. If no one else has added anything to this effect by the next time I log in, I may just add something along these lines. Cheers, Eiríkr Útlendi | Tala við mig 06:38, 30 April 2006 (UTC)