hanjify

name	hanjify
description	Transform English text into Hanjified English — replacing words with CJK characters (Hanzi/Kanji/Hanja) while preserving English grammar structure. Uses a hybrid morphology where inflectional suffixes stay as Roman letters and derivational suffixes/prefixes become Hanzi. Produces three output versions: pure Hanjified, HTML Ruby annotation, and original text. Works on markdown files or inline text. Use this skill whenever the user mentions hanjify, hanjification, writing English in kanji or hanzi, mixing Chinese characters with English, creating an alternate writing system for English, or is curious about what English would look like written in CJK characters. Triggers on "/hanjify", "hanjify this", "convert to hanzi", "英語漢字化", "漢字化", "hanjify english", "english to hanzi", "write this in kanji", "英文漢字化".
license	PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0
argument-hint	[file-path]
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Glob

Hanjify — 英語漢字化

Transform English text into Hanjified English — CJK characters carry meaning while English grammar structure remains intact.

Canonical spec: docs/spec.md in tzengyuxio/hanjify (live tool). This skill implements the same spec via LLM, with context-aware disambiguation that the table-lookup web tool cannot perform.

Hanjify is NOT translation. English word order, grammar, punctuation, and spacing are preserved exactly. Only individual words are replaced with Hanzi equivalents. The result reads like a plausible alternate-history writing system — as if English speakers independently adopted Chinese characters at some point in history, producing a script that is neither English, Chinese, nor Japanese, but something distinctive.

The character selection perspective: imagine an English native speaker who knows Hanzi and looks up characters in a dictionary to transcribe English words. The chosen characters are pan-CJK — mixing Chinese (traditional + simplified), Japanese kanji, Korean hanja, and archaic characters. No single-tradition bias.

Arguments

• $0 — (Optional) Path to a markdown or text file containing English text. If omitted, ask for inline text or find the most recent English text in conversation context.

Step 1: Load the Text

• If $0 is provided, read the file.
• If no argument, find the most recent English text in the conversation, or ask the user.
• Validate that the input is predominantly English.

Step 2: Hanjify the Text

Apply the rules below. Process the text word by word, building an internal mapping table to ensure consistency. As an LLM implementation, you can disambiguate polysemous words by context where a lookup table cannot.

---

Morphology Rules (M1–M9)

Hybrid strategy: inflectional changes keep Roman letters; derivational changes become Hanzi.

M1. Root + Suffix [Hard]

The Hanzi represents the word stem. Suffixes attach directly after the Hanzi (no space).

Before: She moves the boxes carefully.

After: 伊 動s the 箱es 慎重地.

M2. Suffix and Prefix Strategy [Hard]

Priority order: full-word lookup (wordlist) → suffix/prefix rules → original passthrough.

M2a. Inflections — keep Roman letters

Inflection	Use	Example
-s / -es	Plural	move→動 / moves→動s
-ed	Regular past	walk→歩 / walked→歩ed
-ing	Progressive / gerund	run→走 / running→走ing
-er	Comparative	big→大 / bigger→大er
-est	Superlative	big→大 / biggest→大est

Irregular past forms use -t (see M3).

M2b. Derivational suffixes — convert to Hanzi

Suffix	Hanzi	Example
-er / -or / -ar	者	teacher→教者, actor→演者
-ist	家	novelist→小說家
-ician	師	musician→音楽師
-eer	師	engineer→工程師
-man	人	horseman→馬人
-ee	受	employee→雇受
-ess	者 (not gendered; specific overrides via wordlist, e.g., princess→王女)
-ly	地	actually→實際地
-ful / -al / -ous / -ive	的	beautiful→美的
-able / -ible	的	readable→読的
-less	无…的	useless→无使用的, harmless→无害的
-fy / -ize / -ise	化	industrialize→工業化
-tion / -sion / -ment / -ness / -ance / -ancy	(use idiomatic CJK compound)	creation→創造, movement→運動
-thing	物	something→某物, nothing→无物
-body	体	somebody→某体, anybody→任体
-where	処	anywhere→任何処
-one	一	someone→某一

M2c. Derivational prefixes — convert to Hanzi

Prefix	Hanzi	Example
un-	不	unhappy→不喜, unknown→不知
non-	非	non-smoker→非煙者
re-	再	rebuild→再建, restart→再起
any-	任	anybody→任体
some-	某	something→某物
every-	毎	everyone→毎一
no-	无	nobody→无体, nothing→无物

M2d. Idiomatic CJK compounds win over rules

If the English word maps to an idiomatic CJK compound (princess→王女, review→審查, return→帰, meeting→会議), use that compound directly even if the rule would suggest something else.

M3. Irregular Past Forms [Hard]

Irregular past tense and past participle use root Hanzi + -t as a uniform marker.

Before: I thought about what I saw and went home.

After: 予 思t 関於 何 予 見t 与 行t 家.

Common forms (full list in §Reference): think→思 / 思t, go→行 / 行t, see→見 / 見t, eat→食 / 食t, come→来 / 来t, give→与 / 与t, take→取 / 取t, write→書 / 書t, speak→言 / 言t, know→知 / 知t, stand→立 / 立t, sit→座 / 座t, find→発見 / 発見t, buy→買 / 買t, run→走 / 走t, hold→持 / 持t, break→破 / 破t, make→作 / 作t.

M4. Established CJK Compounds [Hard]

When an English word corresponds to a well-established CJK compound, use the compound directly.

Before: Education gives us freedom and knowledge.

After: 教育 与s 吾等 自由 与 知識.

Common compounds: education→教育, freedom→自由, government→政府, language→言語, history→歴史, nature→自然, culture→文化, knowledge→知識, science→科斈, economy→経済, society→社会, music→音楽, religion→宗教, philosophy→哲斈, university→大斈, technology→技術, information→情報, experience→経験, environment→環境, democracy→民主.

M5. Comparative and Superlative [Hard]

Use -er / -est (M2a). Periphrastic forms: more→更, most→最.

Before: The taller man was the strongest but the most intelligent one won.

After: the 高er 男 是ed the 強est 但 the 最 聰明 一 勝ed.

M6. Consistency Across Text [Hard]

Same English root word maps to the same Hanzi throughout the document. Build and maintain an internal mapping table.

M7. Contractions [Hard]

Expand contractions before converting: don't→do not, can't→cannot, won't→will not, isn't→is not, wouldn't→would not, I'm→I am, it's→it is, he's→he is, they're→they are, we'll→we will, etc.

Before: I don't think he's going to the park.

After: 予 行 不 思 彼 是 行ing to the 公園.

M8. Phrasal Forms [Soft]

Phrasal verbs (idiomatic): give up→放棄, break down→崩壊, look for→探, find out→発見, carry out→執行, turn off→消, set up→設立, pick up→拾, make up→構成, point out→指摘, bring up→提起, come back→帰.

Conjunctive as X as phrases (literal compose): as well as → 如善如, as long as → 如長如, as soon as → 如即如, as much as → 如多如, as many as → 如多如, as far as → 如远如, as if → 如若, as though → 如雖.

M9. Past Participle as Adjective [Hard]

Past participles used as adjectives keep the same form as the verb (sole -t marker; no separate -n marker).

Before: A written letter lay on the broken table.

After: 一 書t 信 横ed 於 the 破t 卓.

---

Core Function Word Table

These mappings are mandatory. No variation.

Intentional homography note: some pairs share Hanzi by design — context disambiguates: on/at→於, between/during→間, and/with→与, many/much→多, but/yes→然.

Articles (preserved as English — see §Don't-Convert List)

English	Hanjified
a, an, the	(kept as English)

Personal Pronouns

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
I	予	we	吾等
you	尔	they	彼等
he	彼	me	予
she	伊	him	彼
it	它	her (obj)	伊
		us	吾等
		them	彼等

Possessive — 之 as marker

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
my / mine	予之	our	吾等之
your / yours	尔之	their	彼等之
his	彼之
her (poss)	伊之
its	它之

Reflexive — 自 as marker

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
myself	予自	ourselves	吾等自
yourself	尔自	yourselves	尔等自
himself	彼自	themselves	彼等自
herself	伊自	itself	它自

Interrogative & Relative

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
who / whom	誰	where	何処
whose	誰之	when (interrog.)	何時
what	何	when (conj.)	当
which (interrog.)	何	why	何故
which (relative)	其中	how	如何

For when / which: use the interrogative form (何時 / 何) when the word is at the start of a ?-terminated clause; otherwise use the connective/relative form (当 / 其中). As an LLM, you can also disambiguate by syntactic context (subject-aux inversion etc.).

Demonstratives

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
this	這	these	這等
that	那	those	那等

Prepositions

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
of	(kept)	through	経
in	(kept)	between	間
to	(kept)	under	下於
for	為	over	上於
with	与	after	後
on	(kept)	before	前
at	(kept)	without	不与
from	从	during	間
by	以	against	反対
about	関於	among	其中
around	周辺
into	入

Note: under → 下於 and over → 上於 to distinguish from up→上 / down→下 (intentional avoidance).

Conjunctions

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
and	与	although	雖然
or	或	so	故
but	但	than	於
because	因為	as	如
if	若	unless	除非
when	当	whether	是否
while	正当

Auxiliary and Common Verbs

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
is, am, are	是	will	将
was, were	是ed	would	将ed
been	是t	should	応
being	是ing	may	可
have, has	有	might	可ed
had	有ed	must	須
do, does	行	shall	宜
did	行ed
can	能
could	能ed

Negation

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
not	不	never	从不
no	无	none	无一
nor	亦不	neither	亦不

Common Adverbs and Determiners

English	Hanjified	English	Hanjified
very	甚	here	此処
also	亦	there (loc.)	彼処
too	亦	there (existential)	(kept as English)
only	唯一	then	則
just	僅	now	今
all	全	again	再
still	仍	soon	不久
already	既	yet	卻
always	始終	perhaps	或許
often	常常	together	共集
some	某	almost	幾乎
many	多	enough	足夠
much	多	quite	頗為
every	每	yes	是
each	各	such	如此
other	其他
another	另
same	相樣

---

Don't-Convert List

Preserve these as English (do not convert to Hanzi):

1. Articles: a, an, the
2. Short virtual prepositions: of, in, to, on, at
3. Infinitive to: when before a verb (want **to** go)
4. Existential there: in There is/are... constructs
5. Western proper nouns: people, places, brands (Einstein, Newton, Paris, London, etc.)
6. Untranslatable technical terms: DNA, HTTP, API, WiFi (terms with no natural CJK form)
7. Relative which: rendered as 其中 in spec but if context makes the relative role clear, you can keep which as English for readability (LLM judgement)

Special: CJK-cultural-sphere proper nouns

Names and places from China / Japan / Korea / Vietnam (incl. HK / Macau / Taiwan) are converted back to their Hanzi form: 中国, 日本, 韓国, 越南, 台湾, 香港, 澳門, 東京, 首爾, 北京, 京都, 富士山, 長江, 黃海, 孔子, 老子, 孫逸仙, 秀吉.

---

Word Selection Checklist (W1–W10)

W1. Concrete Nouns — Visually Descriptive [Hard]

Prefer characters whose form or traditional meaning is transparent.

sun→日, moon→月, water→水, mountain→山, tree→木, fire→火, sky→天, star→星, river→川, wind→風, bird→鳥, fish→魚, horse→馬, dog→犬, house→家, door→門, road→道, book→書, hand→手, eye→目, heart→心, person→人.

W2. Abstract Nouns — Compound Construction [Hard]

Use established CJK compounds; otherwise combine two semantic characters.

freedom→自由, knowledge→知識, power→力, truth→真, love→愛, life→生命, death→死, time→時, peace→和平, war→戦, dream→夢, justice→正義.

W3. Verbs — Single Character [Hard]

Single character + suffix per M2.

eat→食, drink→飲, see→見, hear→聞, speak→言, walk→歩, run→走, think→思, know→知, read→読, write→書, make→作, give→与, take→取, come→来, go→行, stand→立, sit→座, sleep→眠, open→開, close→閉, love→愛, want→欲, need→要.

W4. Adjectives — Hanzi Root + Suffix [Hard]

Base adjective maps to Hanzi; comparative/derivational forms via M2a/M2b.

big→大, small→小, good→善, bad→悪, new→新, old→古, long→長, short→短, high→高, low→低, strong→強, weak→弱, hot→熱, cold→冷, bright→明, dark→暗, happy→楽, sad→悲, deep→深, heavy→重, young→若.

W5. Function Words — Strict Table [Hard]

Use the Core Function Word Table above. No variation.

W6. Proper Nouns — Keep English (with CJK-cultural-sphere exception) [Hard]

John 行t 至 London. （Western — kept English）

孔子 言t 重要 之 言. （CJK — converted）

W7. Numbers — CJK Numerals [Hard]

Written-out numbers → Hanzi. Years/dates → Arabic numerals.

Three hundred people gathered on October 15, 2024.

→ 三百 人s 集ed 於 October 十五, 2024.

W8. Technical Terms [Soft]

• Untranslatable acronyms (DNA, HTTP, API, WiFi) → kept English
• Terms with idiomatic CJK forms → use them: algorithm→演祘法, computer→電脳, telephone→電話

W9. Character Tradition Neutrality [Soft]

Priority: (1) characters common across CN/JP/KR; (2) simpler form (existing structure preferred over stroke-count reduction); (3) most transparent meaning.

W10. Compound Nouns [Soft]

sunlight→日光, bookshelf→書棚, bedroom→寝室, newspaper→新聞, airport→空港, earthquake→地震, rainbow→虹, homework→宿題, seawater→海水, fireplace→暖炉.

---

Conflict Avoidance Rule

If a function word's single-character Hanzi would conflict with another high-frequency word of different role, switch to a two-character form:

Function word	Conflicts with	Switched to
under	down	下於
over	up	上於
enough	foot	足夠
yet	高尚 / 時尚 etc.	卻

The intentional-homography exceptions (on/at→於, between/during→間, and/with→与, many/much→多, but/yes→然) are NOT conflicts — they share role/category.

---

Formatting Rules (F1–F4)

F1. English Punctuation [Hard]

Keep . , ? ! : ; " ' etc. exactly as in English. Do NOT use Chinese punctuation 。，？！「」：；.

✓ "今日, " 伊 言ed. "如何 是 尔?"

✗ 「今日，」伊 言ed。「如何 是 尔？」

F2. English Word Spacing [Hard]

Maintain spaces between words. Do NOT use Chinese-style continuous text.

✓ the 日 昇ed 上 the 山.

✗ the日昇ed上the山.

F3. Preserve Document Structure [Hard]

Preserve paragraphs, line breaks, headings, lists, blockquotes — all structure stays.

F4. No Annotations Inline [Hard]

Pure Hanjified output contains only Hanzi + Roman suffixes. No English glosses, parenthetical annotations, or ruby tags inline. Annotations belong only in the Ruby section.

---

Character Form Adoption (字形採用)

The base is Traditional Chinese, with these explicit substitutions:

Common (CN-simp + JP shinjitai same form): 来, 国, 数, 体, 宝, 将, 与, 党, 医, 参, 断, 属

CN-simp adopted: 从, 当, 无, 时, 单, 战, 选, 举, 达, 园, 远, 电, 务, 离, 亲, 虽, 杀, 灵, 压, 尽, 众, 尘

JP shinjitai adopted: 机, 楽, 鉄, 経, 関, 対, 応, 効, 温, 脳, 拡, 発, 観, 齢, 焼, 児, 奨, 浅, 銭

Old / variant chars adopted: 学→斈, 覺→斍, 算→祘, 氣→气, 世→卋, 獸→嘼, 雞→鷄, 收→収

Kept Traditional (no simplification): 黑, 動, 傳, 隊, 鄰, 勝, 華, 畢, 風, 圍, 織, 識, 圖, 線, 筆

---

Step 3: Produce Three Output Versions

Output all three under clear headings. If a file path was provided, write to a new file with _hanjified suffix.

## Hanjified

[Pure hanjified text — Hanzi with Roman inflections, derivational suffixes/prefixes
already converted to Hanzi. Punctuation and spacing follow English conventions.]

## Ruby

[HTML ruby format. Every converted word gets a <ruby> tag.
The <rt> contains the original English word with its casing and inflection.
Unconverted words (proper nouns, technical terms, items in the Don't-Convert List)
appear without ruby tags. Punctuation attaches to the preceding element.]

## Original

[Original English text, completely unchanged.]

Ruby Section Formatting

<ruby>漢字suffix<rt>EnglishWord</rt></ruby>

Example for "The cat sat on the mat.":

The <ruby>猫<rt>cat</rt></ruby> <ruby>座t<rt>sat</rt></ruby> on the <ruby>蓆<rt>mat</rt></ruby>.

• One <ruby> element per converted word
• <rt> preserves the original English word's casing and inflection
• Items in the Don't-Convert List (The, on, the here) appear as plain text
• Irregular past forms wrap the -t marker into the same <ruby>: <ruby>行t<rt>went</rt></ruby>

Step 4: Consistency Audit

Pass 1 — Consistency Check

Re-read the Hanjified output. Verify every occurrence of the same English root word maps to the same Hanzi. If inconsistencies exist, standardize to the first mapping used.

Function words must exactly match the Core Function Word Table.

Pass 2 — Readability Check

Read the Hanjified text from the perspective of a CJK-character-literate reader who doesn't know English. Can they guess most content words? Replace opaque or misleading characters with more transparent alternatives.

Pass 3 — Conflict Audit

Check for unhandled conflicts (single-char function word colliding with content word). If detected, switch to two-character form per the Conflict Avoidance Rule.

Step 5: Output

1. File output: Save with _hanjified suffix (e.g., article.md → article_hanjified.md). For inline text, output directly in the conversation.
2. Sample comparison: Show 3–5 representative sentences in a table (Original / Hanjified / Ruby).
3. Unconverted words: List any items kept in English with reason (proper noun, technical term, in Don't-Convert List, no suitable Hanzi).
4. Conversion rate: Total word count and percentage converted (e.g., "287 of 312 words converted (92%)").

Important Notes

• This is a text transformation, not a translation. English grammar is never altered.
• Punctuation follows English (. , ? ! : ; "" '') — NEVER Chinese punctuation.
• Word spacing follows English (spaces between words) — NEVER Chinese continuous text.
• Western proper nouns stay English; CJK-cultural-sphere proper nouns convert to Hanzi.
• Character selection is pan-CJK but biased toward universal forms (CJK-three common chars preferred over single-tradition variants).
• The result should look like a plausible "alternate-history" writing system — distinctive, internally consistent, readable to anyone familiar with both English and Hanzi.
• The Core Function Word Table is mandatory — these words must always use specified mappings.
• Idiomatic CJK compounds win over mechanical rules (princess → 王女, not 主者).
• The hybrid morphology (inflections in Roman, derivations in Hanzi) is the spec's defining feature. It solves the consistency problem: same root always produces the same Hanzi regardless of inflection, and reduces visual clutter compared to all-Roman-suffix.