I've come across a lot compunds of kanji where the kanjis mean the same thing.
For example, 状態=state, 態=state, 状=state 表面=surface, 表=surface, 面=surface,mask
Can someone explain how these two kanji compounds work and how do the meanings
of the kanjis interact?
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kanji compounds japanese-to-english semantics
Kanji compounds with the same meaning
**Compound words are made of kanji, but each kanji is not necessarily "words"
that can be used on its own.** Consider, in English, _telepathy_ is made of
_tele-_ and _-pathy_ , both of which have some meanings. But that does not
mean you can use "tele" or "pathy" as a standalone word in a sentence. On the
other hand, _network_ is made of _net_ and _work_ , and both can be used also
as standalone words.

Likewise, in Japanese, many kanji do not make much sense if used on their own.
Each time you see a new kanji, you have to remember whether it is a true word
or "just a character with some meaning".

  * **状** : It's not usable as a word. It's used only as part of compounds (性状, 状況, 異状, etc).
  * **態** : It's rarely used as a word. It means "voice" as in "passive voice" in linguistic contexts, but it's rare.
  * **表** : It means "chart/table/spreadsheet", but not "surface", as a standalone word.
  * **面** : It has many meanings as a standalone word (see your dictionary). Note that 表面 means "outside surface" but 面 as a word is more generic and can also refer to 裏面 and 内面.

Sometimes, very similar two kanji are compounded just to make the word longer.
This is necessary because the on-reading of each kanji is short and there are
many kanji with the same on-reading (for example, there are dozens of kanji
that is read じょう; 情, 上, 城, 錠, 条, ...). See: [If 校 is the kanji for school, why
do I need 学 to actually say
school?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15111/5010), [What's the
difference between 重責 and
責任?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/53781/5010) and [Contribution of 気
to the meaning, for example, 勇気 and
勇](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/80496/5010).

See also: [Can kanji compounds be formed
arbitrarily?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/17996/5010)
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