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What are the 'kun' and 'on' readings of kanji?

lucy
What are they, and what is the difference between them - and how do I know which one to use?
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For learning: Japanese
Base language: English
Category: Uncategorized

  • Asked by lucy 6 month(s) ago
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おんよみ is the Chinese reading of a kanji and くんよみ is the Japanese reading. On-reading is usually used when the kanji is a part of a compound (two or more kanji characters are placed side by site). Kun-reading is used when the kanji is used on its own, either as a complete noun or as adjective stems and verb stems.

For example the kanji for water = 水。The On-reading for the character is "sui" and the Kun-reading is "mizu." "水 (mizu)" is a word in its own right, meaning "water". The kanji compound "水曜日(Wednesday)" is read as "suiyoubi."

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