I was just wondering if anyone else is unsing something like this. I find that in many stories an extra character would be good, since it would make the image even vivid, thus more memorable. In many cases the primitives which make up a kanji, are just too abstract (their keyword), to too few in numbers, or hardly distinguishable, ect. In these cases I use a separate primitive, the zero primitive. Whenever I need something extra in a story, like a person, or an object, I just put it in the story, knowing that it doesn't appear in the kanji anywhere, but makes making up stories easier. Of course I only use one zero primitive in a kanji at a time, but if I define a certain list, what could it be, then more zero primitives would be possible too. Just my 2 cents. Anyone else using something like this?

You've lost me.

Could you give an example to make it clearer for an ignoramus such as me pls.

Zero primitive: something memorable that you can attach other primitives two, but doesn't actually have a written form.

Interesting idea, though I didn't need it myself. If you're checking for collisions with Hesig's primitives, you should know there are five primitives in RtK3 that aren't full characters:

sheik
shoeshine
streetwalker
I-Ching
sapling

I just add as many extra characters and objects to my stories as I need to make it memorable. Much of time it would be impossible to make a good story out of just the primitives on their own..and to be honest it never occursed to me that we were meant to keep the stories "pure".

Most of the these extra additions are quite generic, but I also use famous distinct people too. I know they're not primitives when it comes to writing the Kanji because I haven't learn them as such.

Yes, I'm using something like this too. Sometimes primitives in kanji are too hard to connect to each other and throwing some extra link in really helps. Of course you need to make sure you don't confuse it with real primitives that have to show up in the kanji itself. Being consistent helps to avoid this problem. I personally use a memorable person because I find stories with humans/fiction characters easier to remember than ones with inanimate objects and abstract concepts. When I need it, this person just shows up and puts kanji together for me. It really saved me a couple of times and I regret not having started it earlier.

Dude, you're not writing a haiku here!

If you picture whatever image you go with clearly in your head, and focus on the elements in the kanji... you'll remember what part of your story corresponds to a part of the kanji.


The only thing to be careful about is primitives that you'll come across later. If I introduce a random character to a story... say, Calvin and Hobbes... Then I have to make sure that I don't use Calvin and Hobbes as a primitive later.

The index in the back of the book that organizes the kanji and primitives by key word is very useful when you're making a story for this reason.

Why would you need a zero primitive to make this work? I don't get it...

Sounds interesting. It might end up causing some trouble later on, when you're going kanji → concept (e.g. "tree, white.. what was it again? Oh yeah, there's an invisible Calvin and Hobbes here; it makes sense now"), but it's nothing too serious, I guess. Kanji → concept comes naturally with vocab/sentences.

Hm. That really hasn't been an issue.

Generally you add another element because you ALREADY HAVE THE IMAGE somewhere in your head, and it's an image that isn't hard to associate with the key word.

For example, the character for SWIM was very easy for me to learn when I associated it with Michael Phelps.

hereticalrants Wrote:Hm. That really hasn't been an issue.

Generally you add another element because you ALREADY HAVE THE IMAGE somewhere in your head, and it's an image that isn't hard to associate with the key word.

For example, the character for SWIM was very easy for me to learn when I associated it with Michael Phelps.

That last bit about Michael Phelps is really interesting.. I am at ~1770 and I get the most enjoyment out of the characters I have created special people primitives for (Spiderman 維, Gatemaster 閑, Mr. T 債, Six Clothed Cabbage Men 醸, Tophatted King 責, James Bond 追, Scarecrow 嘆, etc). Generally, stories dealing with people stick a lot easier for me for some reason.. As for the zero primitive.. that sounds like a plan that is likely to run into a case of confusing cross-primitive contamination, or.. CCPC for short.

@iSoron: I would not even worry about attempting kanji to concept. If it happens, it happens, if not, you are still familiar and able to reproduce and recognize the kanji.