Discussion

The Origin of Hiragana

In week 1 of this semester, the origin of Japanese kanji from the Chinese writing system was discussed. It is very complex and contains thousands of characters, most of which have multiple pronunciations and meanings depending on the context. In week 2, the development of katakana was discussed. It is a phonetically-based character set that came from fragments of kanji characters. Buddhist monks developed and used it to annotate documents that were written in Chinese or kanji, making them easier to understand. What wasn't covered was that there was an intermediate step between kanji and katakana called man'yōgana. Man'yōgana characters were phonetic and often simpler than kanji characters, but that system was still complex and contained roughly 970 characters. Man'yōgana characters could also be written in two ways. One way was very angular. The character fragments that were used to create katakana characters came from that way of writing. In the other way of writing, man'yōgana characters were more rounded, something that was associated with femininity.

Here is where hiragana, Japan's other phonetic syllabary, comes in. The development of katakana began very early in the 9th century. Hiragana development began somewhat later in the 9th century through the middle of that century — primarily by women. Women were generally not well enough educated to be able to comprehend kanji, but they wanted something more attractive with which to write waka (Japanese poetry) and literature than the angular katakana shapes. Originally called on'nade (women's hand), hiragana became the standard way to write such things.

Each box in the chart below shows the evolution of hiragana from the original kanji (at the top) to the corresponding man'yōgana versions (in red) and finally to the modern versions of hiragana characters.

With the development of hiragana in Japan came an interest in calligraphy as an art form. As stated in a Wikipedia article, "The shift from rigid Chinese characters to the flowing, cursive forms of hiragana allowed for a distinctively Japanese style (wayo) to emerge, elevating handwriting from a purely functional task to an artistic expression of emotion and aesthetics." If you are interested, you can read more about Japanese calligraphy here: A3.3.1 Japanese Calligraphy (Shodō).

The evolution of the written Japanese language remained somewhat fluid until the late 19th century and into the early 20th century when the Japanese government established official versions of the three character sets and their usage for educational purposes. Kanji is still undergoing change with the release of the latest "official use" version coming as recently as 2010.

Because of the existence of the phonetic syllabaries, there is no absolute need for kanji, but use of it is a sign of one's level of education. Early children's reading books use very little of it, but kanji is heavily used elsewhere. Hiragana use in Japanese writing today is an absolute necessity. One reason why has to do with verb conjugation. Most verbs begin with a kanji stem which conveys its basic meaning. The stem is followed by hiragana characters that identify the specific conjugation. Of note is that there are far more verb conjugations in Japanese than in English, even before varying politeness levels are considered. The role of katakana has been reduced to use with foreign loan words, new words in the Japanese language, and as something attention getting similar to how italic and bold fonts are used in English.

If you are interested in practicing hiragana calligraphy, the following chart shows the basic 46 characters with guides for how to write them.

Alstroemeria

Alstroemeria is a genus of more than 120 species of flowering perennials with trumpet-shaped blossoms that are commonly called Peruvian lilies or lilies of the Incas. Regardless of their common names, Alstroemeria are not related to lilies.

Alstroemeria grow from clusters of tuber-like rhizomes. They are the only part of Alstroemeria that are edible, but only if properly cooked. The rest of the plant is toxic. 

The plants are dormant and dead-looking in the winter. In the spring, leaves and new stems begin to grow from a common cluster of the tubers. Leaves and stems begin to grow simultaneously, but at first it just looks like leafy ground cover. 

The stems of most common species of Alstroemeria grow from three to five feet tall. The stems are straight with leaves appearing at intervals. Most species' leaves grow directly from the stalk. The leaves grow upside down. The photo below has a fairly decent view of what the stems look like.

Flower buds begin to appear in the late spring, and blossoming continues throughout the warm months. The plant above has been blossoming for some time already, and new buds are continuously appearing.

At a certain point in stem growth, several smaller stems branch out from a common point. Each of these smaller stems ends in a blossom.

Here is another view of that.

Here is another view of a fully open blossom.

The tepals (sepals and petals) typically last for 7 to 14 days before they fall. Several weeks later, the fruit--seed pods--begin to appear. It takes them several weeks to mature.

A new plant grown from seed takes about three years before it begins to blossom.

Alstroemeria were discovered and introduced to Europe in the 18th century. Their attractive appearance and color have led them to be cultivated today around the world.