Sorry if it seems like a silly question but since I'm studying Japanese
through immersion I have no idea if this is common knowledge or not.

The particle に when used alone can have many different functions besides its
original function of indicating directions so I wonder if phrases like
「にとって」「に対して」「に於いて」「について」「によって」 originally added these functions to に and are
used instead of に alone to clear up ambiguity when needed?. For example によって
seems like it explains the に used for passive sentence and において explains the
time and location function of に. If that's the case then is there a difference
between にとって and just に in this sentence?

> 私にとって、漢字の勉強はとても楽しい

> 私に漢字の勉強はとても楽しい

Also are there any に phrases I should be aware of besides these things?
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question
grammar particle-に
Is the particle に and its multiple functions just the general and reduced version of more specific に phrases like にとって, に対して?
私に漢字の勉強はとても楽しい is unnatural.

you might say 私に漢字の勉強はとてもいい活動だ

So no, the addition of a verb adds meaning that に on its own doesn't have. に
is a very versatile particle because it makes the following verb interact with
a space or category. So in combination, に gives information to よる、とる、おく、etc.
which then in turn modify the next verb phrase, while on its own, it directly
interacts with the next verb phrase, if that makes any sense.

However, you are not completely wrong in the sense that the meaning of に
doesn't disappear when you combine it with a verb (that's what it does after
all). But it's not that に has taken it's meaning from the expression with the
added verb.
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answer