Why are There Different Ways to Read a Single Kanji Character?
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Question from the comments! "Why are There Different Ways to Read a Single Kanji Character?"
Japanese kanji characters have two different ways of reading them called “On-yomi (On-reading)” and “Kun-yomi(Kun-reading).” On-yomi is the way of reading that is derived from the original Chinese pronunciation, and Kun-yomi is the unique way of reading it in Japanese.
Generally, On-yomi is used when there are two or more Kanji characters combined together to make a word, and Kun-yomi is used when it’s independent or combined with Hiragana.
However, this is the “general” rule. Just like in any language, there are tons of exceptions. For example, combining the On-yomi and Kun-yomi together in one word, or two kanji characters put together but still use the Kun-yomi. In the end, you would have to properly study Japanese in order to fully understand the differences.
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Kanji is the main thing scaring me off Japanese.
Ahh yes, I was waiting for the "however" in just explaining the simplest way about kanji.
😂
There are Kanji reading competitions (that's probably not the right word, it's like voluntary exams but there's a leader board for the scores) because even most Japanese people don't know every kanji pronunciation outside of common usage
is it like a spelling bee?
@@lotgcYeap, but for kanjis
it surprises many non-Japanese that foreigners often win these sorts of contests
If I recall, there are about 3000 kanji in everyday use, but there are over 10000 officially recognized. In other words, most Japanese people probably only know around 1/3 of the kanji, and probably don't know every possible reading of those because some readings are super niche. It's like how most English speakers don't know þ, because it's out of use except for niche purposes.
@@SomeGuy-gc8zs I’m sorry, WHAT?!
Japan: we read in spiral because we can
Question from the comments! "Why are There Different Ways to Read a Single Kanji Character?"
Japanese kanji characters have two different ways of reading them called “On-yomi (On-reading)” and “Kun-yomi(Kun-reading).” On-yomi is the way of reading that is derived from the original Chinese pronunciation, and Kun-yomi is the unique way of reading it in Japanese.
Generally, On-yomi is used when there are two or more Kanji characters combined together to make a word, and Kun-yomi is used when it’s independent or combined with Hiragana.
However, this is the “general” rule. Just like in any language, there are tons of exceptions. For example, combining the On-yomi and Kun-yomi together in one word, or two kanji characters put together but still use the Kun-yomi. In the end, you would have to properly study Japanese in order to fully understand the differences.
If you’d like to learn more about Japanese traditional culture, Kyoto, and social problems in Japan, please check out my channel & subscribe!
*The content is based on personal studies and experience
There is no intention of denying other theories and cultural aspects
Also since they are ideograms each kanji represents an idea rather than a word, and since there are based on ideas they can differ on place and time. That's why some of them can have many meanings depending of the context of the text.
Tbh, i really enjoy learning kanji. It does make reading so much faster. Once you grasp the concept, it becomes easier.
Like 今(now/ima)+日(day/hi)=今日(today/kyo) makes perfect sense.
Andddd…..Some kanji have multiple On-yomi variations, Go-On-Yomi and Kan-On-Yomi. Go-On-Yomi are generally older , from about the 5th or 6th century AD.
一期一会 (Ichigo Iche) is read in go-on-yomi
Some multiple knaji words are read in kun-yomi :
身勝手 (Migatte)
And…..some multiple kanji words are read in a combination of on- and kun-yomi :
案内係 (Annaigakari, first two kanji have on-yomi, last has kun-yomi reading)
Last….some words have assigned readings like 分身 (bunshin) can be read as irezumi and 欧州 (ōshū) can be read as Europe.
Least complicated part of Japanese grammar
Thanks for making my life a bit more complicated.
🤯🤯🤯
I remember asking my Japanese teacher in college this question and how to identify which reading to use. He replied with "you just know. I don't know why it is the way it is"
as far as I remember there was a way for conveying the meaning and a way for conveying the sound of a word
I love the Japanese language and despite how annoying it may be im current trying to stick it out and learn it
I get the impression that the exceptions to the general rule happen because in the end, whether to use one reading or the other (or in combination) depends on convenience, that is, how do I convey as much of the exact words I actually mean without being tongue-tied?
All fun & games until a singular kanji has 50 different kun-yomi or on-yomi readings
Which never happens.
I'm so much Interested in leading Japanese. I'm Lucky that i had Japanese as a subject in my だいがく for 4 Months
I kinda picked up on this before watching this short. The kanji for Kami, for example, can also be pronounced as “-gami”, “Kamu” or “Jin” depending on other kanji or hiragana being used.
the reading can also change depending on surrounding kana
関= かん、せき、ぜき、かか、かかわ
another question that seems to have no answer on the internet 🤔
Do japanese people on average understand the meaning/history of their names? For example in the US, most of us who are named something like "Michael" (toomanymike) or "Bob" or "Richard" or something probably don't have a clue what those mean but for example a name like 「田中」as a foreigner I've learned the meaning to be "middle of the rice field" and 「桜」meaning cherry blossom (although I'm sure Japanese people understand 桜 because it's a used word)
This question goes for both given names and family names, but I also want to know if Japanese people are typically aware of their lineage and understand where their family name comes from and why they have it 🤔
It makes sense, since kanji are hanzi that were adopted and then adapted to fit the Japanese language. I can see cases where a word in Japanese pronounces a kanji differently than another because they are different *words*. Kanji like hanzi are orthographic, so what comes first is the meaning of the character and then pronunciation. Part of weirdness of these characters is knowing the meaning of them but not knowing the pronunciation and vice versa.
Of course, there could be cases where certain words were changed to fit with the common pronunciation of a kanji, but I’m sure about that (and it seems a bit unlikely).
I hope that was easy to read; I think the language I used could be better
Pls make a full video on Kanji..I'm very confused with on yomi and yomi and also with it's exceptions
Japanese is what happens when you put a logographic short syllable language into a phonemic long syllable language
Ok, Japanese is impossible I think it's beyond my reach😂
I learn kanji by learning words that contain these kanji and it just works, I'm slowly starting to be able to read words I've never seen by combining readings of other words I've seen
I always imagined it was like English in a way: There's "wood" and "would" - Same sound, different meaning...
Thanks Shogo! I was thinkig about to learn Japan for fun. I knew it is hard but now you helped me to decide in this matter. I will learn polish.
Wise choice, normie.
Hello, Shogo! I've been studying japanese for about 1 year. I can read hiragana and katakana, but kanji is a real big challenge! But I will learn! At least we have all the phonemes of the japanese language in portuguese, so the pronunciation is not a big problem. :)
Thank you!
Best regards!
I wouldn't recommend learning Kanji through Romaji. Cuz they're usually written with Kana.
Or like any native language speaker talk about their language, use your intuition.
Why was a just notified of this video
Will you be in trouble if you have a tattoo like the Yakuza?
Simple way to remember Kanji:
1.
💀
The real nightmare comes in when the on-yomi has as many as four ways to read the same kanji.
Why are there certain characters that have three different pronunciations?
I have a question: was Hokkaido always inhabited by the japanese and what is the general history of Hokkaido as it the most northern island?
Yep, see that "exception" coming
On it's own, kanji is easier to read. But combined is tricky
Can someone please explain what kanji N1 N2 N3 - N5 means? Which ones to start for beginners?
Complicated rules and exceptions is why I don't bother trying to read and write my native language, which lead to me being bad at it till this day.
You misspelled independent
I'm okay when it comes to hiragana and katakana, but when I hit a kanji character, I get stumped. There are certain ones that I've become familiar with, at least.
Also, this is one of the things that I tell my buds ---- if they're to have kanji tattooed on their skin, they need to make sure that they've got the character right. Never take for granted what character you find in a shop, without doing your own research. I remember this one girl bragging about a tat she just got on the tail end of her spine. And when she showed the kanji to me, all I can tell her was, "Uhhh, that's not "heaven" you've got there. Those characters meant "roll over"." ....... Let's just say she had to save enough money to have it lasered off. X|
Hi im so im going to study high school in japan in a few years im just here to ask is it important to learn kanji?(im subscribed and liked your every video)
Is it just me or do i see tanjiro's sword in the background?
I am having big problem while making sentences Japanese and also the kanjis are very difficult what should I do could you suggest me? 😅😑😐お願いします!
So hard to learn these, because there are multiple readings depending on the Kanji. Foreigners learning Japanese have their work cut out for them
I’m curious, why is 300 (三百) pronounced as “san byaku” whereas 100 (百) and most of the hundreds are said as “hyaku”? It’s just interesting.
I can't give a certain answer but probably bc the sound "softens" and turns into b(ya) since it's next to another soft consonant (n) but then yonhyaku still exists so idk if there's a certain reason
Ah yes, the Japanese variety of “I before E.”
Should I learn how to speak Japanese first or how to read and write? I can pronounce it accurately enough because my native language is Hindi.
I have learned to read and write the Hiragana system (though it takes me a full minute to read just 3 lines) but fail to understand what they mean most of the time.
Should I continue this way and start Katakana or look for ways to learn how to speak?
You need about 600 hours to get the basics of a language, you need about 10 years to get the basics of kanji... Japanese isn't a language, its a whole lifestyle.
but yeah I agree Japanese or any non native language has to become a lifestyle or you're almost guaranteed to lose it
My current state is, I could understand the meaning of many kanji words, but not sure the pronunciation.
Interesting! I didn't know that!
Okay, here's my plan.... I'm abolishing language... No English, no Japanese, no languages at all, anywhere... Instead everyone on the planet will speak a brand new language that won't have ANY exceptions
... It'll take a while to design, so for the next 20-30 years humans won't be able to communicate... It's worth it though 😂😂😂
Somebody already had that idea. The language is called Esperanto. Wasn't successful...
@@dirkbecker2961 it didn't catch on because it had to compete with well-established languages at a snail's pace (being in the 1880's) 😁
How do you distinguish a kanji character / word from another when it has multiple meanings. Is it simply contextual or does it require specification
That’s…too much 😅 I think Japan should phase out Kanji because 3 systems of writing something is too convoluted. Especially when one of the ways, kanji, has a hundred ways it can be read 💀
Do japanese name:s have a particular reading for a particular kanji? I mean I dont understand when somebody says like their family has chose the kanji. Do they like first chose their kanji then keep the reading which comes along with it or they chose the readings(names) and kanji(of names) differently?
Hope you understand🙂
It could be either way around! Sometimes people have names that doesn’t have any relationship with that Kanji, but use it anyways because they like it😅 Like writing 銀河 ぎんが which means universe, but reading it そら which means sky!
@@LetsaskShogo but foreigners can't choose kanji for their names right? And even if a foreigner's name is Japanese origin like sakura or sora, still they have to use katakana right?
@@LHTA as soon as you become a citizen or permanent I believe you can choose kanji for your name
Question: Do JAPANESE people really remember kanji?
This one is an easy one: 新年
Also, there's often far more than two ways to read the Kanji
There's already 3 alphabets, we don't need 2 ways to read one 😢
I still didn't understand how musashi is both musashi and takezo. How do you know which one is the one you have to use😳😣
In the past Japanese people had various names depending on their age, or names that were giving to them by their superiors because of some achievements, or names related to religion like monk names😊
@@LetsaskShogo That totally doesn't answer the question xD
@@Serjo777 Whichever pronunciation is chosen is highly, highly subjective, so if you already memorize all of the possible readings of a kanji, the next thing to know is the context. For example some Japanese names are written in kanji that were chosen just for the pronunciation instead of the character's actual definition ("dunno, it just sounds nice"). In the case of Musashi it might be something like, "this is how I will call you simply because you remind me of this old monk guy."
We're there any female samurai??
What is an o yoroi
Oh I am studying Japanese I still have no idea of the language
japanese destroys my brain cells bit by bit but its still interesting
Ah, like r-e-a-d and r-e-a-d.
Will I specify which is which? No :)
And then there's kanji with like 15 ways to read them
And all those 15 readings mean different things, mind you. You're never gonna confuse Umareru with Nama for example, cuz the former means to be born and the latter means Raw.
@@danielantony1882 If I already have the words down and the context that they’re used in, that might be true. But if you’re trying to remember the reading when you know just the meaning of the entire word then it can be a bit tricky.
@@MasterQuestMaster The problem is that the entire word doesn't have 1 meaning.
And what i'm pretty sure of is that not all Japanese people are at N1 level
Yes i'm confused as to how that is possible
Tldr it’s complicated
I've been learning japanese for month, and still can't read hiragana probably🗿
You ok?
did you hit your head or smth
It's not really that different from the many different ways English words could potentially be read. Actually, "read" itself is an example, because that spelling is used for both past and present tense even though the pronunciation is different. Telling the difference in both cases is all about context.
your traditional clothes are gorgeous!!
Thank you! I just bought them recently ✨
Japanese seems crazy difficult to learn! Last night I learned my daughter got her orders from the US Marines... She will spend 3 years in Okanowa, Japan! I am so proud of her and hope I'm able to visit her while she's there! Perhaps I'll try and learn a bit of the language, even if it's alien to me now!
Also not mentioned 'nanori' i.e. kanji for names and things can go super wild for this one, like there are many possible kanjis to write 'Akira' or 'Satoshi'.
Also by mentioning 'Satoshi' I mean the Japanese names, not the crypto stuffs.
A very sensitive language and hard to master.
Orally easy just not to read.
Still easier than my language.....FRENCH
yeah but kunyomi and onyomi can have 10 different pronounce of a single kanji .. explain that
Aren’t there also like 800 million kanji?
And then there's nanori...
So it’s not because of the Edo period?
Isn't there also nanori and go-on readings?
One of the hardest parts of all languages is that "proper" version of a language is not what is used casually... Slang dialects are what we all use even in our own native tongues...
Write my name in Japanese
"SHIVANSHI"
シバンシ
What is your take on the word gaijin? Is it still pejorative? What are the subtleties around it.
Is it still true that some establishments are still for Japanese only or is that a myth?
There are still lots of Japanese only places.
Gaijin is absolutely not a polite word in Japanese… and unfortunately there some places in Japan that are for Japanese only😓
@@LetsaskShogo Shogo- Is there a polite way to refer to a foreigner? I know (here it goes again, yay limited experiences) in German, Auslander means any foreigner without any kind of connotation. While in Russian, there is Chuzhoi, which can also mean alien, which is insulting, and then there's the neutral "Innostranets". Is there a polite form in Japanese which basically means "Stranger" or "Other country person"? Thank you very much.
@@LetsaskShogo sad to hear 😥
@@Mortablunt 外国人/gaikokujin or (the antiquated) 異国人/ikokujin
idk man, it is pretty intuitive imo
*screams into a pillow* ill never be fluent!
Araragi koyomi?
I’m convinced that learning Kanji will increase intelligence by 100 points
well, i, as Indonesian didn't find my language having that many exception so i consider this as an exception for language having a ton of exception
So basically if I'm learning to read in Japanese I need to learn two language?
Question: Would 龍傾奇者 only be able to be read as ryū kabukimono or could it also be read as tatsu kabukimono?
This is why I use MattvsJapan's way of learning Kanji which is "just learn the Kanji". It involves just memorizing the Kanji when you run into it. This avoids the headache of dealing with the technicalities of needing to remember the kun-yomi, on-yomi and its exceptions. Brute-forcing my through things is my style.
kanji tree app is highly recommended
I think you mean remembering the words with the Kanji.
@@DANGJOS ^^
Learning kanji through whole words has been extremely helpful for me and I can read/understand so much more text than before. The app I use allows me to learn the intrinsic meanings as an ideograph and the meanings when used for a word, and the combined learning makes for efficient kanji recognition/retention
why do SOME Japanese men have a really disturbing way of approaching women in Japan? Like almost predatory in nature? Great example of this is I'mJasmine, a live streamer from Twitch.
Like that one line from 24 Hour Cinderella
The "Koi Mahou" kanji part is read as "Love Magic"