98260
There are several words for walls, fences and hedges and I can't get clear in
my mind what's what.

First let me clarify the English meanings (at least as I think of them):

  1. A hedge is a boundary to a garden, field or property made from plants/trees/shrubs.
  2. A fence is a boundary to a garden, field or property typically made from wood or wire mesh.
  3. A wall is a boundary to a garden, field or property made from brick/stone/concrete.
  4. A wall is also a side of a building or of a room in a building.

With those definitions in mind could someone please classify the following
words: 壁, 塀, 垣, 生垣, any other words that spring to mind.

I'm assuming that 生垣 unambiguously means 'hedge' given the 生 kanji implying
life, but I'm very confused about the others.
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2023-01-21T15:13:53.887
98255
2023-01-22T02:48:32.767
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question
meaning word-choice
Walls, fences and hedges
Generally, 壁 is used for rooms or buildings and 塀/垣 for boundaries.

  * 垣 is usually made of something 'natural'.
  * 塀 is more wall-like (typically, top two in the first picture below or the second pic called ブロック塀{べい} - [source 1](https://mizushimanoie.jp/staff_blog/22772/), [source 2](https://blog.goo.ne.jp/tameikiman22/e/f778d083ff2560ff93e8b30e87413279)).

[垣根](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%9E%A3%E6%A0%B9/#jn-38295) in modern
speech is synonymous with 垣, which has subtypes 生垣, 竹垣 etc. A typical 生垣 is as
the bottom right one below, and 竹垣 is the bottom left. I think 生垣 is more or
less a patch of shrubs. This can be a boundary between a property and outside,
or between a path and fields in a park, for example.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ec1Y8.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ec1Y8.jpg)

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/LtqkR.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/LtqkR.png)

* * *

柵/フェンス is typically like below (often seen in schools;
[source](http://works.nogisuzu.main.jp/?eid=107)). A wire mesh fence would be
called フェンス or 柵, but wood fence may be called 垣(根) as well.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/F8UNt.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/F8UNt.png)

* * *

Lastly, walls like [Hadrian's
Wall](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8F%E3%83%89%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8C%E3%82%B9%E3%81%AE%E9%95%B7%E5%9F%8E)
is called 長城. The (English) name should sound odd to most Japanese (at least
to me), because it is too short (vertically) for 壁 ( _the_ translation for
_wall_ ).

An aside: as above suggests, 塀 is usually shorter than 壁, but the wall
surrounding a prison is still a 塀. As such 塀の中 is a euphemism for _in(side of)
jail_.
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2023-01-22T02:48:32.767
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2023-01-22T02:48:32.767
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answer