文字
もじ · moji · JLPT N3 · noun
letter
🔤✍️ moji as in emoji: e (絵, drawing) + moji (文字, character)
文 means writing and 字 means character, so 文字 is a written character. English borrowed it in emoji: 絵 e (drawing) + 文字 moji (character), so an emoji is a drawn character.
文 — pictograph of crossed lines on a chest
文 originally depicted a person with patterns or tattoos drawn on the chest, shown as crossed or interwoven lines. From this image of decorative markings, it came to mean 'pattern,' then 'writing,' 'script,' and 'literature' or 'culture.' The modern senses all trace back to the idea of meaningful marks.
字 — roof 宀 + child 子
Originally depicted a child 子 under a roof 宀, suggesting birth or rearing a child in the home. The meaning later extended to 'to give birth, nurture' and then to 'written character', since characters were seen as offspring derived from earlier pictographs.
もんじ · monji · JLPT N3 · noun
letter
🔤 文字 = writing + character: the marks that make up written text
文 means writing or text (as in 文学, literature) and 字 means character (as in 漢字, kanji). Together they mean a letter or written character. Also read もじ (moji), which is where the emoji in 絵文字 (emoji) comes from: 絵 picture + 文字 character.
文 — pictograph of crossed lines on a chest
文 originally depicted a person with patterns or tattoos drawn on the chest, shown as crossed or interwoven lines. From this image of decorative markings, it came to mean 'pattern,' then 'writing,' 'script,' and 'literature' or 'culture.' The modern senses all trace back to the idea of meaningful marks.
字 — roof 宀 + child 子
Originally depicted a child 子 under a roof 宀, suggesting birth or rearing a child in the home. The meaning later extended to 'to give birth, nurture' and then to 'written character', since characters were seen as offspring derived from earlier pictographs.