Home
Back

Dear visitor, if you know the answer to this question, please post it. Thank you!

Note that this thread has not been updated in a long time, and its content might not be up-to-date anymore.

Kanji for Arigatou 2015/6/28 10:42
Hello everyone, all my time of reading Japanese and texting Japanese I never seen "ありがとう" in kanji before, until now. I have seen two girls on two different occasions type "ありがとう" in kanji form as "有難う". Is this a new trend or am I just late? but why I am just seeing it now? I didn't know "arigatou"could be written in kanji.
by Kisukeyo  

Re: Kanji for Arigatou 2015/6/28 14:57
I though ありがとう was the "trend." 有難う has been and still is commonly used. Well, maybe I'm getting old ;) By the way, since there are less numbers of letters (characters) in the latter version, it's also handy to use it when there isn't enough space to write.

https://www.google.co.jp/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=%e6%9c%89%e9...
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: Kanji for Arigatou 2015/6/28 15:45
Japanese dictionaries tell you 有り難う, so that it can be used formally but people use ありがとう as a common sense and daily use. It also ca be used 有難う but I feel two Kanji in three words look wordy to me. So I don't use 有難う.
by tokyo friend 48 rate this post as useful

Re: Kanji for Arigatou 2015/6/28 21:04
Yes, it can be written that way.

I believe ありがとう is and has been the common way to write it. 有難う or 有り難う appears in somewhat classical literature, but not that often in "modern-day" prints, I'd say.

And it "could" be that is comes in handy when you want to keep your text short. Another thin is that once someone uses the "convert (to kanji)" key on their cellphone or PC, and selects 有難う、then that choice reappears again the next time when they enter the same phrase. So people who use it tend to end up using it many more times.
by ... (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Kanji for Arigatou 2015/6/29 10:44
Writing words and phrases in kanji and kana is a fundamental way of Japanese wrriting. Of course, all words can not be written in kanji and kana, some are only in kana or only in kanji, and others in kanji-kana. Personal ways of usage of kanji, kana and kanji-kana are generally approved in case of style effect or personal taste. But, you still have a standard Japanese writing.

Arigatou written all in kana is nothing but a plain form of 有難うwritten in kanji-kana. Today, too much use of kana may be seen everywhere, and ありがとう in hiragana a common form today, but even now, it is written in kanji-hiragana in formal way.

Originally, arigatou ありがとう comes from a locution “arigataku zonjimasu (omoimasu)”, which means “It seems too impossible to be real/ to show sufficiently my sincere gratitude for your favor.
And “arigataku zonjimasu” 有難く存じます becomes “arigatou” by an omission of the latter half (it often happens in Japanese locutions) and by a euphonic change of the last syllable (u-onbin う音便).

From the original meaning, it is very natural that arigataku (arigatou) is written as 有難く(有難う), because 有(あり)means to be real, to happen, and 難し(かたし)impossible, difficult.
有り is also written with り, ending of verb (okurigana 送りがな), but this ending of verb can be omitted unless it causes a wrong pronounciation and misunderstanding.

So ethymologically, 有難う is most proper, and ありがとう is a common, ordinary, simple and plain form of today’s writing.
I must say I am of the old generations.
by aiglon (guest) rate this post as useful

reply to this thread