So, I just started RTK 2 yesterday and I come across frame 34 this morning.

Kanji: 之　Compound:　之字形　　しじけい Compound definition: zigzag

This compound is not in any of the Japanese dictionaries I've tried. Also when I look up the word zigzag, I get different compounds. WTF?

After finding all those errors in RTK 1, I feel its prudent to go through and double check kanji I'm unsure about. To be honest, I haven't heard anything about errors in RTK 2 and I merely want to make sure this isn't one. If there are any errors further down the line, please enlighten me so that I don't have to spend time unlearning things.

I can't find any evidence of this word being used in Japanese, though it looks to be fairly common in Chinese. It could be that it was used at one time and has since been replaced with the Anglo loanword ジグザグ.

JimmySeal Wrote:I can't find any evidence of this word being used in Japanese, though it looks to be fairly common in Chinese. It could be that it was used at one time and has since been replaced with the Anglo loanword ジグザグ.

Why put a non-word in chapter 1? To scare away the faint of heart. Only those that be brave enough to conquer chapter 1 may continue on ...

The word may have been in use when RTK2 was originally published. I can't say for sure.

I reckon he had to make a stretch for that character because there are little or no compounds that actually contain that character. It doesn't have much meaning on its own and is mostly used as an old-timey way of writing the possessive particle の.
In fact, 之字形 just means "shape that looks like 之". And yet he included it in RTK1 before he had any intention of writing RTK2, so I guess he was obliged to include something for it. So that's why.

JimmySeal Wrote:The word may have been in use when RTK2 was originally published. I can't say for sure.

I reckon he had to make a stretch for that character because there are little or no compounds that actually contain that character. It doesn't have much meaning on its own and is mostly used as an old-timey way of writing the possessive particle の.
In fact, 之字形 just means "shape that looks like 之". And yet he included it in RTK1 before he had any intention of writing RTK2, so I guess he was obliged to include something for it. So that's why.

I guess I'll just go with it then. Though, doesn't he realize how discouraging the phrase "rare reading" is when put beside a kanji in chapter 1. There are oh so many common readings that could be learned first.

Forgive my ranting.

The reason is doesn't pop up is because it's 2 words. 之 and 字形.

KMDES Wrote:The reason is doesn't pop up is because it's 2 words. 之 and 字形.

If it was a common compound it would be in a dictionary regardless.

Jarvik7 Wrote:

KMDES Wrote:The reason is doesn't pop up is because it's 2 words. ”V and ŽšŒ`.

If it was a common compound it would be in a dictionary regardless.

Oh really? "Z shaped" doesn't show up on dictionary.com or in most other English dictionaries. You can find ”V and ŽšŒ` in Japanese dictionaries, just not the phrase ”VŽšŒ`. Doesn't mean it's not valid Japanese.

Did you really just use a comparison to an English dictionary? Pretty sure Japanese isn't English.

Common JAPANESE compounds are in larger dictionaries. Google it if you like and see that it isn't really a Japanese word. There are 426 matches for it on Japanese domains, all of which seem to be talking about Chinese or proper nouns (based on a cursory look).

You can coin a compound and it would make sense, but the point is that it isn't used in Japanese.