I personally would break it down as 'kara-te'. That is it is writen in Kanji in Japanese. 'Kara' meaning empty, 'te' meaning hand. As for the meaning of kara, using the kanji for karate it means empty. The same Kanji can be used for sky, pronouned 'sora'. As for the meaning of from, that would just be the word written out in hiragana and is not related to the kanji at all.
'Kara' and 'sora' are the 'kun-yomi' (kun reading). The kun-yomi is usually but not allways the indigeneous Japanese pronunciation that was attached to a kanji after is was brought over from China. In many cases, when you see a kanji by itself, it usually is pronounced using the 'kun-yomi'. Also, most of your words that are conjugated, adjectives, verbs, the stem form is usually the 'kun-yomi'. 'Kun-yomi' is written in Japanese using hiragana.
For this kanji there is also 'ku', which is the 'on-yomi'. The 'on-yomi' can be thought of as the equivalent Chinese pronunciation of that kanji at the time that it was imported to Japan. Usually when you have a more than one kanji together to create a word, the 'on-yomi' is used. The 'on-yomi' is also usually written with katakana to distinguish it from the 'kun-yomi'.
This is how I usually explain Japanese pronunciation to people who are not familiar with it. 'K' and 't' are the same as in english. As for the 'a', I use the 'aw' sound from example saw. As for the 'e', I use the 'ay" sound like in 'say'. The Japanese 'r' is tricky. I like to think of it as a combination of an 'r' and a 'd'. You make the same shape with your mouth that you would do to say an 'r', but you touch the tip of your tonge to the roof of your mouth as if you are saying a 'd'.
I usually try to pronounce the word 'ka-ra-tay' because that seems to be the accepted pronounciation for where I have lived. Also, to correct someone in conversation also sounds really pretensious. I just think back to the "Friends" episode where they all made fun of Ross for correcting everyone.
Please take this post as being pretensious. Japanese language and culture are a big interest of mine, and I have a tendency to get really longwinded when I get a chance to explain a part of it.
Sorry for any spelling or gramatical errors.
Thanks,
'Kara' and 'sora' are the 'kun-yomi' (kun reading). The kun-yomi is usually but not allways the indigeneous Japanese pronunciation that was attached to a kanji after is was brought over from China. In many cases, when you see a kanji by itself, it usually is pronounced using the 'kun-yomi'. Also, most of your words that are conjugated, adjectives, verbs, the stem form is usually the 'kun-yomi'. 'Kun-yomi' is written in Japanese using hiragana.
For this kanji there is also 'ku', which is the 'on-yomi'. The 'on-yomi' can be thought of as the equivalent Chinese pronunciation of that kanji at the time that it was imported to Japan. Usually when you have a more than one kanji together to create a word, the 'on-yomi' is used. The 'on-yomi' is also usually written with katakana to distinguish it from the 'kun-yomi'.
This is how I usually explain Japanese pronunciation to people who are not familiar with it. 'K' and 't' are the same as in english. As for the 'a', I use the 'aw' sound from example saw. As for the 'e', I use the 'ay" sound like in 'say'. The Japanese 'r' is tricky. I like to think of it as a combination of an 'r' and a 'd'. You make the same shape with your mouth that you would do to say an 'r', but you touch the tip of your tonge to the roof of your mouth as if you are saying a 'd'.
I usually try to pronounce the word 'ka-ra-tay' because that seems to be the accepted pronounciation for where I have lived. Also, to correct someone in conversation also sounds really pretensious. I just think back to the "Friends" episode where they all made fun of Ross for correcting everyone.
Please take this post as being pretensious. Japanese language and culture are a big interest of mine, and I have a tendency to get really longwinded when I get a chance to explain a part of it.
Sorry for any spelling or gramatical errors.
Thanks,
