Building a Tri-Language Hanja/Kanji/Hanzi Cognate Map

Core examples: 學/学/학, 國/国/국, 電/电/전, 會/会/회, 社/社/사, 長/长/장, 生/生/생.

A cognate list is not a cognate map

A learner writes:

學 = 학 = 学 = 学

This is not wrong, but it is incomplete. What is the Korean reading? What words use it? Is the modern Japanese form simplified? Is the Chinese simplified form different? Does the meaning stay stable? Is the character common in Korean writing today or mostly hidden inside Hangul words?

A serious map needs columns.

The key principle is:

A tri-language cognate map must record differences as carefully as similarities.

What the map should include

A useful cognate map includes:

1. traditional form,
2. simplified Chinese form,
3. Japanese shinjitai if different,
4. Korean Hanja form,
5. Korean reading,
6. Korean Hangul words,
7. Mandarin pronunciation,
8. Japanese readings,
9. core meaning,
10. word-family examples,
11. register/domain,
12. false-friend or drift warning.

Without these fields, a cognate map becomes a list of comforting resemblances.

學 / 学 / 학

Traditional/Korean Hanja:

學

Japanese modern:

学

Simplified Chinese:

学

Korean reading:

학

Korean words:

학교 學校, school

학생 學生, student

학문 學問, scholarship

Japanese:

学校 学生 学問

Chinese:

学校 学生 学问

This is a strong high-value root, but Korean usually writes Hangul.

Learner action: map 학 to Korean vocabulary, not only to the character.

國 / 国 / 국

Traditional/Korean:

國

Japanese:

国

Simplified Chinese:

国

Korean reading:

국

Korean words:

한국 韓國, Korea

국가 國家, state/nation

국제 國際, international

Japanese:

韓国, 国家, 国際

Chinese:

韩国, 国家, 国际

Strong root. But institutional meanings may diverge.

電 / 电 / 전

Traditional/Korean/Japanese:

電

Simplified Chinese:

电

Korean reading:

전

Korean words:

전기 電氣, electricity

전자 電子, electronics/electron

전화 電話, telephone

전력 電力, electric power

Japanese:

電気, 電子, 電話, 電力

Chinese:

电气/电, 电子, 电话, 电力

Learner action: map related technical vocabulary as a family.

會 / 会 / 회

Traditional/Korean:

會

Japanese:

会

Simplified Chinese:

会

Korean reading:

회

Korean words:

회사 會社, company

회의 會議, meeting

사회 社會, society

대회 大會, conference/competition

Japanese:

会社, 会議, 社会, 大会

Chinese:

公司 is more common for company, but 社会, 会议, 大会 appear.

This is where the map gets interesting. 회사 and 会社 match Korean-Japanese well, but Mandarin uses 公司 for company more commonly.

Learner action: record language-specific common words, not only character equivalence.

社 / 사

Traditional/simplified/Japanese/Korean:

社

Korean reading:

사

Korean words:

회사 會社, company

사회 社會, society

사장 社長, company president/boss

신문사 newspaper company

Japanese:

会社, 社会, 社長, 新聞社

Chinese:

社会, 社长, but company is usually 公司, and 社長 differs in distribution.

Learner action: 社 is a strong root, but word frequency differs by language.

長 / 长 / 장

Traditional/Japanese/Korean:

長

Simplified Chinese:

长

Korean reading:

장

Korean words:

사장 社長, company president

회장 會長, chairperson/president

성장 成長, growth

장기 長期, long-term

Japanese:

社長, 会長, 成長, 長期

Chinese:

社长, 会长, 成长, 长期

Learner action: 長/长 has both “long” and “leader/head” meanings across compounds.

生 / 생

Traditional/simplified/Japanese/Korean:

生

Korean reading:

생

Korean words:

학생 學生, student

생활 生活, life/living

생산 生産, production

생명 生命, life

Japanese:

学生, 生活, 生産, 生命

Chinese:

学生, 生活, 生产, 生命

This root is highly productive, but Japanese also has many native readings for 生 such as いきる, うまれる, なま. Korean Sino-Korean mapping is simpler in this specific respect.

Learner action: note when Japanese has extra native-reading complexity that Korean does not share.

Forms are not the same across standards

One character may have:

• Korean Hanja/traditional-like form,
• Japanese shinjitai,
• simplified Chinese,
• traditional Chinese.

Examples:

Learner action: write forms separately. Do not assume Japanese simplification equals Mainland Chinese simplification.

Reading columns matter

A character map without readings is incomplete.

Example:

Learner action: sound correspondence is not obvious. Record it.

Meaning drift and domain drift

A root may align broadly but differ in common words.

Example:

회사 / 会社 / 公司

Korean and Japanese use the 會社/会社 root for company. Mandarin commonly uses 公司.

Example:

공부 / 工夫

Korean 공부 means study. Japanese 工夫 means devising/ingenuity. Mandarin 工夫 can mean skill/time/effort depending context.

Learner action: cognate maps need warning fields.

Example bank walkthrough

學/学/학

Learning/study root.

Learner action: Korean 학 word family.

國/国/국

Country/state root.

Learner action: nation/international vocabulary.

電/电/전

Electricity/electronic root.

Learner action: tech/infrastructure family.

會/会/회

Meeting/society/company root.

Learner action: strong Korean-Japanese parallel; Chinese drift in company word.

社/社/사

Society/company/organization root.

Learner action: company/social vocabulary.

長/长/장

Long/head/chief/growth root.

Learner action: leader and length meanings.

生/生/생

Life/birth/production/student root.

Learner action: productive across all three, Japanese readings more complex.

Cognate-map workflow

To build a Korean-centered tri-language map:

1. Choose one Korean Sino-Korean word.
2. Recover Hanja if useful.
3. Record Korean reading and Hangul spelling.
4. Add Japanese form and readings.
5. Add Chinese simplified/traditional forms and Mandarin pronunciation.
6. List high-frequency compounds in each language.
7. Mark shared meaning.
8. Mark drift or false-friend risk.
9. Add one authentic-style example per language if possible.
10. Tag domain and register.

Required columns for a serious cognate map

A tri-language map needs enough fields to prevent false confidence.

A cognate map without divergence notes is not finished.

Form divergence examples

Map forms explicitly rather than assuming one “character.”

Drift field examples

A good map teaches where comparison stops helping.

A strong tool for this article would allow row-by-row comparison.

Suggested columns:

1. Korean Hangul word.
2. Hanja.
3. Korean reading.
4. Japanese kanji/shinjitai.
5. Japanese reading.
6. Simplified Chinese.
7. Mandarin pinyin.
8. Shared meaning.
9. Divergence note.
10. Example sentence.

Final rule

CJK cognate mapping is powerful when it is disciplined.

學/学/학, 國/国/국, 電/电/전, 會/会/회, 社/社/사, 長/长/장, and 生/生/생 show shared character heritage. But readings, forms, frequency, register, and institutions diverge.

A good map does not hide divergence. It makes divergence visible.