Intro to Kanji II: Reading Kanji
漢字の読み方
Previously, we learned about the seven kinds of radicals that compose Kanji and how Kanji inherently represent units of meaning as opposed to sound, in other words, logograms rather than alphabet symbols. In this lesson, we will learn about what kinds of Kanji there are and how that relates to reading individual kanji.
The 4 Kinds of Kanji
四種類の漢字の成り立ち
In ancient China, Kanji began as pictographic representations, which over time morphed into a complex system of thousands of glyphs to write any morpheme (unit of meaning) in Chinese languages. Then, over several more centuries, these same characters were adopted to write Japanese. In doing so, Kanji have changed in sound and occasionally appearance, but little has changed to their composition. All Kanji fall under one of the following four types:
- Pictograms
- Ideograms
- Compound Ideograms
- Semasio-Phonetic Characters
※At times, a character can fall under more than one type.
To begin, we’ll start with pictograms as it is these characters which gave birth to Kanji.
Pictograms 象形文字
Pictographic Kanji are the direct descendants of ancient depictions. Although now highly stylized when compared with their initial forms, many still greatly resemble what they represent.
| 日 | 月 | 山 | 鳥 | 木 |
| Sun | Moon | Mountain | Bird | Tree |
| 魚 | 川 | 貝 | 口 | 龍 |
| Fish | River | Shellfish | Mouth | Dragon |
Ideograms 指事文字
Whereas pictograms are depictions of concrete entities, ideograms are depictions of abstract entities. At their core, though, they are still very much pictographic.
| 一 | 二 | 三 | 上 | 下 |
| One | Two | Three | Up | Down |
| 天 | 今 | 母 | 音 | 立 |
| Heaven | Now | Mother | Sound | Standing |
Compound Ideograms 会意文字
Compound ideograms are the logical next step after simple ideograms. As implied by the name, they are created by combining radicals together to express a more complex meaning.
| 林 | 森 | 炎 | 明 | 信 |
| Woods | Forest | Flame | Bright | Believe |
| Tree + Tree | Tree + Tree + Tree | Fire + Fire | Sun + Moon | Person + Word |
| 死 | 比 | 光 | 男 | 休 |
| Death | Compare | Light | Man | Rest |
| Bones + Person | Person + Person | Fire + Person | Rice Field + Strength | Person + Tree |
Semasio-Phonetic 形声文字
The previous types of characters only make up about 20% of Kanji. For the remaining 80%, not all of the radicals used in their composition contribute to its meaning. Usually, one or more parts contribute to the meaning while the rest of the character indicates its “sound.” These phonetic elements are deeply tied to Chinese, the language for which Kanji were originally developed.
To demonstrate what is meant by a phonetic element, let’s consider the kanji 官 meaning “bureaucracy.” It is a compound ideogram composed of a pictograph of a roof over meat for ceremonial purposes. Eventually, this led to it being interpreted as “a building where militants dwell.” From this, the meaning of “bureaucracy” is derived. Its “sound” is カン and when 官 is seen in other kanji, its meaning is usually irrelevant, but the pronunciation of those other Kanji is カン.
| 管 | 館 | 菅 | 棺 |
| Pipe | Building | Sedge | Coffin |
| カン | カン | カン | カン |
| 竹 (bamboo) + 官 | 食 (food) + 官 | 艹 (grass) + 官 | 木 (tree) + 官 |
※ 館 can also be viewed as a compound ideogram.
■Phonetic elements tend to have the same or similar pronunciation in the Kanji they appear. If pronunciation does differ, the difference is usually minor with a consonant or vowel being somewhat different.
ON Readings 音読み
The phonetic elements (音符・オンプ) which represent the sound of Kanji (字音・ジオン) found in semasio-phonetic characters refer to what are called ON readings—on’yomi おんよみ. These readings are inherited from Sino-Japanese vocabulary, which are words derived from Chinese roots. Minus a few Kanji that were created in Japan, almost all Kanji possess ON readings.
ON readings were borrowed along with waves of Kanji several times in Japanese history. Each time, new Kanji as well as new readings and meanings of old Kanji were introduced. Just as Japanese evolved over time, so did Chinese, which explains why the introduction of multiple pronunciations occurred.
In other languages influenced by Chinese, older readings were replaced by new ones over time, but this prolonged contact did not occur between Japan and China. Consequently, even among the most basic Kanji, different meanings and readings from various points in time coexist with each other.
■The Kinds of ON Readings 音読みの種類について
First, let’s look at the character 行 meaning “going/conduct.” It has three ON readings: ギョウ, コウ, and アン. The first is a Wu reading (呉音・ゴオン), the second is a Han reading (漢音・カンオン), and the is a Tang reading (唐音・トウオン).
- Wu readings were introduced from the 5th to 6th centuries, in some cases much earlier, and are the oldest ON readings in Japanese. They were and remain deeply tied to Buddhist texts. This is so much so that some speakers mistakenly believe that they are only used in old/religious texts, but there are many commonplace words that utilize them.
- Han readings were introduced during the Tang dynasty. They were brought back to Japan by monks and emissaries throughout the 7th and 8th centuries. Most ON readings are Han readings and all Kanji made in China possess one, which is not always the case for Wu or Tang readings.
- Tang readings refer to any readings that were introduced after the 8th century. Although the name would suggest that they were introduced during the Tang dynasty, they were mostly introduced during the Song dynasty. Although “Tang” in Japanese is 唐・トウ, it can also refer to non-modern China rather than any particular dynasty. In totality, only approximately 100 words utilize these readings, but some such words are, in fact, commonly used.
- Traditional readings (慣用音・カンヨウオン) are popularized readings that came about from mispronunciations. At times, these mispronunciations have completely replaced their actual ‘traditional’ ON readings. Although 行 does not have such a reading, quite a few Kanji do.
Returning back to 行, here are some words with its three ON readings.
| Wu Reading ギョウ | Han Reading コウ | Tang Reading アン |
| 行列 ギョウレツ queue | 行進 コウシン a march | 行脚 アンギャ pilgrimage |
| 行間 ギョウカン line-spacing | 行動 コウドウ action | 行灯 アンドン paper-covered lantern |
| 行事 ギョウジ event | 銀行 ギンコウ bank | 行火 アンカ foot warmer |
Of these readings, Han readings are the most common, and they account for around 80% of all words which utilize ON readings. 19.99% are made with Wu readings and the remaining 0.01% are made with Tang readings.
KUN Readings 訓読み
Almost as soon as Kanji were introduced to Japan, Japanese people were thinking of ways to write Japanese words with Chinese characters. At the beginning, Kanji would be used for their sound to spell out words in the same way Kana are used, but it did not take long for native words to be applied to Kanji with the same meaning. This gave birth to what are called KUN readings—kun’yomi くんよみ.
Just as is the case with ON readings, many Kanji have more than one Kun reading. Kanji with different meanings will almost certainly have a KUN reading for each, and if a Japanese word has complex morphology, different iterations of the same word will result in multiple KUN readings.
Knowing ON readings is comparable to English speakers knowing Latin roots, but knowing KUN readings is the same as knowing the core vocabulary used in daily conversation. Statistically, around 60% of the Japanese lexicon is composed of Sino-Japanese words and around 30% is native in origin. However, the percentage of words of native origin in daily conversation is also around 60%. These conflicting statistics are further proof of why it is important to know both kinds of readings for any Kanji.
To demonstrate how KUN readings work while also contrasting them with ON readings, let’s look at the Kanji 男. This character means “man” and it has two ON readings and two KUN readings. Using Katakana to represent ON readings (just as above) and using Hiragana to represent KUN readings, those readings are as follows: ナン (Wu), ダン (Han), おとこ, and お.
| ON (Wu) – ナン | ON (Han) – ダン | KUN – おとこ | KUN – お |
| 長男 チョウナン eldest son | 男性 ダンセイ male | 男心 おとこごころ male frivolity | 男神 おがみ male deity |
| 次男 ジナン second son | 男児 ダンジ male child | 男湯 おとこゆ men’s bath | 寡男 やもお male widower |
| 三男 サンナン third son | 男子 ダンシ young man | 男前 おとこまえ man’s looks/manliness | 益荒男 ますらお warrior |
| 下男 ゲナン male servant | 男女※ ダンジョ men and women | 男の子 おとこのこ boy | ダメ男 だめお※ male loser |
| 美男※ ビナン handsome man | 男優 ダンユウ actor | 大男 おおおとこ large man | 康男※ やすお Yasuo |
※美男 is typically read as ビナン, but dictionaries also list the reading ビダン. Although the use of the Han reading is not commonplace for this word, there was a time in which intellectuals attempted to purge the language of all other readings in favor of Han readings, and the effect of this can still be seen.
※男女 is an example of such a word. It was already coined before Han readings were introduced, and thus, it may alternatively be read with Wu readings as ナンニョ. This is usually only seen in the set phrase 老若男女 meaning “men and women of all ages.” With a different meaning altogether, 男女 may also be read with KUN readings as おとこおんな, which is a derogatory word referring to effeminate men.
※ダメ男 may also be read as だめおとこ.
※The KUN reading お is most commonly used in male names such as Yasuo. Note that names can be spelled in various ways and parents have the right to determine how each Kanji is supposed to be read.
One would imagine that if only 20% of words utilize a non-Han ON reading, and if different KUN readings are usually assigned to different meanings, that there would not be so much overlap, but such overlap is actually quite common.
Choosing Between ON & KUN Readings
音訓の使い分け
Truly, the safest way to know how to read a word written in Kanji is by having learned the readings of the kanji used on an individual basis as well as the word itself. That is not to say that there are no tricks to guessing, which we’re about to look into, but there is no such thing as absolutes when it comes to reading Kanji.
Single-Kanji Words
一字からなる単語の読み方
Some learners are falsely instructed that single-Kanji words are typically read with KUN readings, but this is easily refuted with even the most basic elementary vocabulary. While it is true that such words are often read with KUN readings, this is not a guarantee. Sometimes, ON and KUN readings of the same Kanji can stand for different words in isolation.
| ON | KUN | ON | KUN |
| 王 オウ king | 雨 あめ rain | 円 エン yen | 蚊 か mosquito |
| 線 セン line | 山 やま mountain | 剣 ケン sword | 剣 つるぎ sword |
| 天 テン heaven | 国 くに country | 死 シ death | 火 ひ fire |
| 駅 エキ train station | 鳥 とり bird | 茶 チャ tea | 日 ひ day |
| 金 キン gold | 金 かね money | 麺 メン noodles | 川 かわ river |
| 銀 ギン silver | 銀 しろがね silver | 僕 ボク I | 草 くさ grass |
| 本 ホン book | 人 ひと person | 絵 エ picture | 子 こ child |
| 脳 ノウ brain | 木 き tree | 案 アン plan | 月 つき moon |
| 勘 カン intuition | 手 て hand | 例 レイ example | 足 あし foot |
| 字 ジ character | 字 あざ village section | 都 ト Tokyo Metro | 都 みやこ capital |
※銀 is an example of word replacement by Sino-Japanese influence. しろがね is the native word for silver, but in everyday speech ギン is the preferred reading.
※剣 is read as ケン or つるぎ. Both readings are essentially interchangeable with the meaning “sword.”
※都 means “capital.” The native word for this is みやこ, which traditionally refers to Kyoto. When referring to Tokyo, it is read as ト.
In this small sampling of words, you can see that at times, the meanings are so different that there is no way a reader could ever confuse then. On the other hand, there are other times when you would need much more knowledge about word choice, and that might not always be enough. In fact, when more than one reading is possible, writers will even indicate which one is intended.
Sino-Japanese Compound Words
熟語の構成
Traditionally, each Kanji stood for a single morpheme in Chinese. Over time, complex words were coined by conjoining two morphemes/Kanji together, creating what are called 熟語・ジュクゴ. This word, in essence, is the Sinitic equivalent of a compound word. These words are read with ON readings.
熟語 come in various types and are usually composed of two to five Kanji, and the etymologies behind these compounds are varied.
■Two-Kanji Compounds 二字熟語・ニジジュクゴ
There are countless two-Kanji jukugo, and for the most part, they fall under these four types.
- Some are created by combining Kanji of opposite meanings together such as 進退・シンタイ (moving forwards [進] or backwards [退]).
- Many are created by combining Kanji of similar meanings such as 救助・キュウジョ (relief). 救 means “to save” and 助 means “to help.”
- In many examples, the second Kanji describes the first such as in 牛肉・ギュウニク (beef). 牛 means “cow” and 肉 means “meat.”
- Some are based on Chinese grammar such as 登山・トザン (mountain climbing). 登 means “to climb” and 山 means “mountain.” The Chinese word order used here is “verb-object,” but this same word would be rephrased in native vocabulary as 山(やま)に登(のぼ)る (to climb a mountain) with the word order “object-verb.” There are also words like 頭痛・ズツウ with a “subject-predicate” word order, which is not unlike basic Japanese grammar.
■Three-Kanji Compounds 三字熟語・サンジジュクゴ
- Most three-Kanji jukugo are made by affixing prefixes and suffixes to two-Kanji jukugo. For example, 責任感・セキニンカン means “sense of responsibility” and is a combination of 責任 [responsibility] and the suffix 感 [sense/feeling].
- Some are created from Chinese expressions with the word order “subject + predicate.” For instance, 心停止・シンテイシ means “cardiac arrest” and is composed of 心 [heart] and 停止 [stopping].
- Some are created from Chinese expressions with the word order “verb + object.” For instance, 省資源・ショウシゲン means “saving resources” and is composed of the verb 省 [to conserve] and 資源 [resources].
- Sometimes other elements of Chinese grammar such as adverbs find their way into three-Kanji jukugo such as in 未曾有・ミゾウ meaning “unprecedented.” 未 is an adverb meaning “not,” 曾 is an adverb meaning “yet,” and 有 is used as a verb meaning “to have.”
- Others are made by stringing nouns together such as 天地人 meaning “heaven, earth, and man.”
Then there are still more examples that may confuse readers of Chinese that have been uniquely coined.
■Four-Kanji Compounds 四字熟語・よジジュクゴ:
When most speakers think of four-Kanji compounds, they think of idiomatic expressions. There are so many such idioms that there are dictionaries specifically for them. Many such as 大胆不敵 meaning “daredevil” are used in everyday speech. These are the sort of words people use to quiz others’ language skills.
Many speakers conceptualize “four-Kanji jukugo” as only referring to these idioms, but the word can also be extended to strings of two-Kanji compounds such as 政府方針 (government policy), expressions from Chinese classics, and Buddhist phrases such as 四苦八苦 (the four and eight kinds of suffering).
There are technically more kinds of such four-Kanji compounds, but these are the most important kinds.
■Five-Kanji Compounds 五字熟語・ゴジジュクゴ
Not nearly as common as the other kinds of compounds, there are some idiomatic expressions that are five-Kanji long. A frequently used example is 手持無沙汰・てもちブサタ (to be at a loose end). However, as will be touched on shortly, there are also such thing as compounds mixed with ON and KUN readings, and this is fairly common with five-Kanji jukugo.
| Two-Kanji Compounds 二字熟語 | Three-Kanji Compounds 三字熟語 | Four-Kanji Compounds 四字熟語 | Five-Kanji Compounds 五字熟語 |
| 意味 イミ Meaning | 殺風景 サップウケイ Barren | 意気消沈 イキショウチン Disheartened | 希代不思議 キタイフシギ Unheard-of mystery |
| 映画 エイガ Movie | 度外視 ドガイシ Overlook | 一望千里 イチボウセンリBoundless expanse | 奇妙奇天烈 キミョウキテレツIncredibly odd |
| 英語 エイゴ English | 過不足 カフソク* Too much or too little | 一期一会 イチゴイチエ Once-in-a-lifetime encounter | 五十歩百歩 ゴジッポヒャッポ A miss is as good as a mile |
| 弁当 ベントウ Box lunch | 望遠鏡 ボウエンキョウ Telescope | 一喜一憂 イッキイチユウ Unable to put one’s mind at ease | 日常茶飯事 ニチジョウサハンジ Everyday occurrence |
| 会社 カイシャ Company | 第六感 ダイロッカン Sixth sense | 一生懸命 イッショウケンメイ With all one’s might | 白髪三千丈 ハクハツサンゼンジョウ Prolonged anxiety |
| 家庭 カテイ Household | 自動車 ジドウシャ Automobile | 一目瞭然 イチモクリョウゼン Obvious | 言行不一致 ゲンコウフィッチ Inconsistency between words and actions |
| 花瓶 カビン Vase | 投票率 トウヒョウリツ Voter turnout | 色即是空 シキソクゼクウ All is vanity | 喧嘩両成敗 ケンカリョウセイバイ It takes two to make a quarrel |
| 登山 トザン Mountan climbing | 雰囲気 フンイキ Atmosphere | 諸行無常 ショギョウムジョウ All things must pass | 御都合主義 ゴツゴウシュギ Opportunism |
| 腹痛 フクツウ Abdominal pain | 理不尽リフジン Irrational | 起死回生 キシカイセイ Resuscitation | 自転車操業 ジテンシャソウギョウ Hand-to-mouth operation |
| 上下 ジョウゲ Top and bottom | 大使館 タイシカン Embassy | 一石二鳥 イッセキニチョウ Killing two birds with one stone | 三方一両損 サンボウイチリョウゾン Sharing the pain among three parties |
※過不足 is an example of a word which is frequently mispronounced, so much so that its mispronunciation is just as common as the correct pronunciation. Its ‘mispronunciation’ is カブソク.
There is no need to learn all the words in this chart, nor is it necessary to learn the readings and meanings of the Kanji used. The purpose of this chart is to demonstrate how Sino-Japanese compound words are constructed.
Native Compound Words
和語の複合語
Native words may also be combined to create compounds. These compounds are called 複合語・フクゴウゴ. As to be expected, they are read with KUN readings.
Native compound words are usually around two to three Kanji long, and many examples can be found in place names and personal names. These words tend to be more basic in meaning, and so even though there are not as many of them as jukugo, they are used just as often in the spoken language.
| 母親 ははおや Mother | 紫色 むらさきいろ Purple | 居間 いま Living room | 背中 せなか Back | 花火 はなび Fireworks |
| 父親 ちちおや Father | 友達 ともだち Friend | 井戸端 いどばた Side of well | 場合 ばあい Situation | 入口 いりぐち Entrance |
| 子供 こども Child | 八百屋 やおや Greengrocer | 受付 うけつけ Reception | 昼間 ひるま Daytime | 焼魚 やきざかな Grilled fish |
| 貝殻 かいがら Seashell | 夕方 ゆうがた Evening | 着物 きもの Kimono | 神棚 かみだな Home shrine | 渋谷 しぶや Shibuya |
| 建物 たてもの Building | 雨雲 あまぐも Rain cloud | 小鳥 ことり Small bird | 鼻血 はなぢNosebleed | 川崎 かわさき Kawasaki |
Mixed Origin Words 和漢混淆語
As mentioned slightly when learning about five-Kanji jukugo, there are also compounds that are made by mixing native and Sino-Japanese words. There are words read in the order of ON-KUN as well as KUN-ON.
■ON-KUN Readings 重箱読み
There is a multi-tiered food box used in Japan called ジュウばこ, and from this word derives the Japanese term for ON-KUN readings.
| 台所 ダイどころ Kitchen | 額縁 ガクぶち Frame | 役場 ヤクば Town hall |
| 番組 バンぐみ TV program | 桟橋 サンばし Wharf | 磁場 ジば Magnetic field |
| 路肩 ロかた Road shoulder | 新顔 シンがお Newcomer | 客間 キャクま Guest room |
| 残高 ザンだか Bank balance | 頭突 ズつき Head-butt | 蝶番 チョウつがい Hinge |
| 団子 ダンご Dumpling | 本屋 ホンや Book store | 反物 タンもの Textiles |
■KUN-ON Readings 湯桶読み
There is a pail-like wooden container for hot liquids in Japan called ゆトウ, and from this word derives the Japanese term for KUN-ON readings.
| 場所 ばショ Place | 雨具 あまグ Rain gear | 目線 めセン Point of view |
| 見本 みホン Specimen/example | 梅酒 うめシュ Ume liqueur | 高台 たかダイ Elevation |
| 身分 みブン Social position | 株券 かぶケン Stock certificate | 手数 てスウ Trouble |
| 消印 けしイン Postmark | 敷金 しきキン Security deposit | 夕刊 ゆうカン Evening paper |
| 手帳 てチョウ Notebook | 太字 ふとジ Boldface | 白菊 しらギク White chrysanthemum |
Special KUN Readings 熟字訓
Japanese etymology is separate from Chinese etymology. As such, some words in Japanese are not made with the same morphemes as in Chinese, but because Kanji are still used to write words based on their meaning, this results in irregular words being assigned to them. These irregular words are thus irregular readings, and those readings are treated as special KUN readings called 熟字訓（ジュクジクン）.
| 昨日（きのう） Yesterday | 今日（きょう） Today | 明日（あした・あす） Tomorrow | 明後日（あさって） Day after tomorrow |
| 大人（おとな） Adult | 一日（ついたち） First day of the month | 今朝（けさ） This morning | 煙草（たばこ） Tobacco |
| 一昨日（おととい） The day before yesterday | 一昨年（おととし） The year before last | 梅雨（つゆ） The rainy season | 雪崩（なだれ） Avalanche |
| 大和（やまと） Yamato | 田舎（いなか） Countryside | 太刀（たち） Long sword | 紅葉（もみじ） Colored leaves |
※煙草 is an example of loanwords being attributed to Kanji. Whenever this happens, the reading is treated as a special KUN reading.
Okurigana 送り仮名
A situation in which KUN readings are solely used is when there is what is called “okurigana” following the root of a word written in Kanji, which write out grammatical inflections that do not have Kanji associated with them. After all, Japanese grammar is completely foreign to Chinese grammar.
Take for instance the word 受付 we saw earlier. It is a noun created by joining the nominal forms of two verbs. As such, it may also be spelled as 受け付け, but when it is spelled like this, it usually functions as a verbal phrase.
Unfortunately, the use or lack thereof of okurigana is not so straightforward. There are many situations in which parts of the okurigana to a phrase may be omitted, and there are some instances when okurigana is obligatory. For instance, 思（おも）う means “to think,” and it is impossible to read 思 as おもう. 思（おも）い, on the other hand, can be used as the nominal form “thought” and may potentially also be written solely as 思, although in this case, that is unlikely. Point being, okurigana is necessary in writing out Japanese conjugations.
| 成(な)る To become | 歌(うた)う To sing | 大(おお)きい To be big/large | 静(しず)か To be quiet |
| 高(たか)い To be tall/high | 行(い)く To go | 早(はや)い To be fast/early | 出来(でき)る To be able to |
Furigana 振り仮名
Reading Japanese is difficult, and to verify this, you need look no further than any book on a Japanese reader’s bookshelf to find pages strewn with little bitty Kana on the side of Kanji. These small Kana to the top, to the side, or to the right (depending on the direction of the text) indicate the intended pronunciation of Kanji. This is called “furigana.” In this lesson, because we have been learning the differences between ON and KUN readings, furigana has been mixed with Katakana and Hiragana, but in actual practice, furigana is usually seen in Hiragana. Katakana is only seldom used when the next best spelling would happen to be Katakana.
Furigana will only occasionally be used in our studies as it is more advantageous for you as the learner to familiarize yourself with online tools. Of course, when clarification is necessary, readings will be given.
Ateji 当て字
Though Kanji inherently have meaning, sometimes Kanji are in fact only used for their sound. The ‘sound’ could be an ON or a KUN reading depending on the word. The reasons behind these so-called ‘ateji‘ spellings are varied. At times they are uniquely coined spellings to emphasize a word in a unique way, and for other instances there was not a suitable Kanji spelling. Below are some examples.
| 亜米利加 アメリカ America | 出鱈目 でたらめ Haphazard | 沢山 タクサン A lot | 滅茶苦茶 メチャクチャ Chaotic |
※One definition of ‘ateji‘ has it that non-standard use of Kanji are also a form of ateji. Loanwords being attributed to Kanji like 煙草, thus, may also be viewed as ateji.
Kokuji 国字
Although Kanji are indeed ‘Chinese’ characters, not all of them were made in China. Several hundred Kanji were created in Japanese. These characters are called “kokuji.” It is almost safe to say that they are indigenous to Japan, but some of these characters actually got introduced into Chinese. With that being said, naturally, most kokuji have KUN readings, some have ON readings, and depending on how and why the kokuji was made, there is a small amount that possess only ON readings.
| 働 | 峠 | 颪 | 癪 |
| ON: ドウ KUN: はたら(く) To work | KUN: とうげ Mountain pass | KUN: おろし Wind blowing down mountains | ON: シャクPeeve, spasm |
| 鰯 | 畑 | 腺 | 込 |
| KUN: いわし Sardine | KUN: はた, はたけ Crop field | ON: セン Gland | KUN: こ(む) To be crowded |
| 辻 | 榊 | 匂 | 鋲 |
| KUN: つじCrossroad | KUN: さかき Sacred Shinto tree | KUN: にお(う)To smell | ON:ビョウThumbtack |
| 畠 | 瓩 | 粁 | 塀 |
| KUN: はた, はたけCrop field | KUN: きろぐらむKilogram | KUN: きろめーとる Kilometer | ON: ヘイ Fence, wall |
※瓩 and 粁 were created to represent Western measurements. They are examples of ‘new’ KUN readings made from loanwords.
※The reading ヘイ of 塀 is listed as an ON reading because of the phonetic element used in the Kanji, but the word itself is actually native in origin.
To be Continued 次章につづく
Over these last five lessons, you were given a detailed walkthrough for the Japanese writing system. Although it is the most complex in the world, it does have its own sense of order, and with time and effort, you can learn how to read it efficiently. Up next, we’ll begin learning about Japanese grammar.