Saturday, June 2, 2012

Japanese Kanji Characters - Set 1




Kanji script is of Chinese origin. The Japanese incorporated a Japanese reading along with the original Chinese reading.

On-reading (On-yomi) is the Chinese reading of a kanji character. Chinese also used it that way at that time.  But it  might be quite different from Standard Mandarin today. The Kun-reading (Kun-yomi) is the native Japanese reading.

Even though which reading is to be used depends on specific words, as a general rule On-reading is usually used when the kanji is a part of a compound (two or more kanji characters are placed side by side). Kun-reading is used when the kanji is used on its own, either as a complete noun (word) or as adjective stems and verb stems. This is not a hard rule, but it would help to start with till one recognizes the usage and learns the pronunciation of the word.

Kanji Alphabet (One pronunciation)

S.No.     On-reading             Kun- reading      Meaning      Link

1.           Ichi                         hito                     One, Unity       http://japanese.about.com/library/blkod1.htm

2.           u, yuu                      migi                     right, right wing  http://japanese.about.com/library/blkod2.htm

3.            u,                            ame, ama            rain, rainfall     http://japanese.about.com/library/blkod3.htm

4.            en                            maru                  circle, yen       http://japanese.about.com/library/blkod4.htm

5.            ou                            no reading          king                http://japanese.about.com/library/blkod5.htm

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