日本2019年年度汉字为令 Japan picks "令" to define 2019

"令" has been chosen as Japan's Kanji of the Year.[Photo: screenshot of Abema News]

A Kyoto-based organization promoting the use of Kanji announced on Thursday that the first of the two kanji used in Japan's new imperial era name, "Reiwa(令和)," has been chosen as Kanji of the Year.

Chinese characters are known as kanji in Japan. "Reiwa" in Japanese means "beautiful harmony". The character "rei" also means "order" in Chinese.

This year's symbol was made in a public contest entered by more than 216,000 people.

The kanji-of-the-year selection event has been held annually since 1995. Last year, the Chinese character or kanji meaning "disater(灾)" was selected as kanji of the year.

重点词汇 Key Word:

令

• <动词 v.> order; command
  E.g. Lìng gè xiào qièshí zhíxíng cǐ guīdìng.
  令各校切实执行此规定。
  It is ordered that this rule be strictly carried out in every school.

• <名词 n.> order; command
  E.g. Fúcóng mìnglìng shì jūnrén de tiānzhí.
  服从命令是军人的天职。
  Obeying orders is a soldier's bounden duty.

• <动词 v.> cause; make
  E.g. Zhè yīqiè lìng rén zuò'ǒu.
  这一切令人作呕。
  The whole thing was disgusting.