Are many hiragana and katakana found in kanji?


I've noticed a few kanji that appear identical to a kana. 二 is the only
example I can remember, where it represents both the kanji ni and the katakana
ni, although I'm sure I've seen others. Are there many examples of this? Are
they coincidental?




I'm no expert in the history of the Japanese writing system so I'm going to be
putting a lot of faith [this
chart](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%89%87%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D#.E5.AD.97.E4.BD.93.E3.81.AE.E7.94.B1.E6.9D.A5)
and the idea in general that katakana are derived from small parts of larger
kanji. This appears to be generally accepted though Japanese wikipedia notes
opposition by one scholar.

If we go by this chart, it's no coincidence that katakana ニ looks like the
kanji 二, since it was taken from the kanji 仁 which itself is made up of 人 and
二. Similarly, カ is taken from the 力 in 加, エ is taken from the 工 in 江, ロ is
from the 口 in 呂 and チ is directly from 千. I think that covers all ones which
are very similar visually.




I'm no expert in the history of the Japanese writing system so I'm going to be
putting a lot of faith [this
chart](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%89%87%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D#.E5.AD.97.E4.BD.93.E3.81.AE.E7.94.B1.E6.9D.A5)
and the idea in general that katakana are derived from small parts of larger
kanji. This appears to be generally accepted though Japanese wikipedia notes
opposition by one scholar.

If we go by this chart, it's no coincidence that katakana ニ looks like the
kanji 二, since it was taken from the kanji 仁 which itself is made up of 人 and
二. Similarly, カ is taken from the 力 in 加, エ is taken from the 工 in 江, ロ is
from the 口 in 呂 and チ is directly from 千. I think that covers all ones which
are very similar visually.

