Re: [tlug] [tlug-digest] OT (sorta) A Langauge Question

["Zev Blut" <zb@example.com>]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 14:08:08 +0900, Edward Wright <edw@example.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 20, 2005 at 01:00:31PM +0900, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
>
>> Sure.  I was referring to the "furigana" part.  In the dictionaries
>> I've seen the dictionary entry is given as "hiragana (KANJI)", so what
>> are the furigana for?
>
> Ah. Never thought about it. The entries are hiragana, followed by the
> kanji, with furigana. In that sense I guess the furigana are redundant.
> However, the example usages, and derived words (compounds) are written
> in kanji with furigana. There of course the furigana are useful.

In a multi kanji word, I can imagine that having furigana helps you
see what parts of the hiragana map to which kanji.  So it may not be
all that redundant after all.

Zev