The reading of a kanji character or a word written in kanji characters refers to how it is “read” in terms of kana characters.
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1answer
198 views
方 - also read ほう when referring to a person?
The following sentence is from "A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar":
留守番電話は、一方ではかかる方にもかける方にも便利な面もあるが、他方ではお互いに直接話が出来ないから、不自然な面もある
"The answering machine is, on the one hand, very ...
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2answers
98 views
What is the nuance of 解{げ}す？
Today in my JLPT text book, I came across the word 解{げ}す.
I know that the kanji 解 means "unravel", and it can be read 解{わか}る, and with that reading it's synonymous with 分{わ}かる, "to understand".
When ...
4
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1answer
158 views
Reading a non-numerical range
Expanding on my previous question,
What if the range is not numerical? I encountered these on a book for learning Japanese.
The 初～中級編 book for beginner to intermediate level and 中～上級編 for ...
4
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0answers
137 views
Which readings are used for 漢文？
If I am reading a Chinese text to a Japanese audience, how can I know which reading to use for each character? Of the 音読み, there can be 呉音, 漢音, and 唐音 to choose from.
Also for pronunciation, would ...
3
votes
1answer
122 views
The reading of 砂利
砂利 I am fairly sure is normally read as じゃり but I saw that an alternate reading of ざり exists.
Is the ざり reading at all used in the modern language?
Why じゃ・ざ and not しゃ・さ?
3
votes
1answer
123 views
How to read いい方
How do you read 方 in
大きいクラスでは、一時間にせいぜい一、二度当たればいい方だ。
In a large class, on a good day, you will be called on at most once or twice.
3
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1answer
71 views
The meaning\reading of 急停止集団巣鴨?
Context: The title of This video by Megwin.
The title of the video is:
トゲ抜き老人が腰抜かす!?急停止集団巣鴨に現る
The second part is confusing me.
Too many kanji in a row for me. I understand it's probably a ...
3
votes
2answers
234 views
Reading 捻る: when is it ねじる or ひねる?
How can I tell whether 捻る is read as ひねる (P. ・ N.C.) or ねじる (P. ・ N.C.)?
I assume the answer is "based on which verb is appropriate", so I've been trying to learn the difference between them. Based ...
3
votes
1answer
237 views
Why the mixture of *on* and *kun* readings of numbers?
One thing that always puzzled me was why some terms and names that are based on numbers will mix the on and kun readings. I never really understood the rules for that, but it occurs to me that there ...
3
votes
2answers
136 views
微温い versus 温い versus ぬくい versus ぬるい
According to WWWJDIC,
ぬるい and ぬくい are both written 温い.
Anthy and the iOS Japanese input systems agree.
However a native speaker and the input of an electronic dictionary (広辞苑）say that
温い is read ...
3
votes
1answer
186 views
What is the meaning of 人児, and is it a compound?
There's this rather unpleasant sign on a restaurant that says:
中国人＆帰化人、残留孤児、中国系混血人児、絶対入店禁止、純血日本男児のみ。
Putting aside the racist content, from a linguistic point of view, the one word that throws ...
2
votes
3answers
162 views
How to know which On reading to use?
Just something as simple as the character for "one" has the On readings "ichi" and "itsu." So how would I know which one to use if I saw this as part of a compound?
2
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3answers
305 views
Is the difference between On and Kun readings greater than just the pronunciation of the character?
Here is my present state of understanding:
A kanji's meaning is the same regardless of reading.
A reading is a way of speaking the kanji out loud.
Kun readings are always used when the kanji appears ...
2
votes
1answer
62 views
Which readings were changed in the 2010 Jouyou kanji reform?
I'm looking for pointers on which readings (on/kun) were changed in the 2010 reform. By that I mean which kanji has additional readings and which kanji has had one or more readings removed? Is there a ...
2
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1answer
91 views
Are けもの and けだもの different types of beasts, or simply two variants of the same word?
Both けもの and けだもの are written in kanji as 獣, but is the beast with 'だ' inside more brutal than the one without 'だ'? Or are they simply two variants of the same noun, thus they refer to exactly the ...
2
votes
1answer
112 views
What is the most common way to pronounce 運?
So 運 is spelled うん, but I seem to hear most of my friends pronounce it as あん. My friends and family are 20-60 years of age and come from mostly Tokyo and Ibaraki area. I am living in the US now and so ...
2
votes
1answer
139 views
Reading of 起き上がり小法師
In particular, of the 小法師 part.
I this article, we have 小法師 as こぼうし in the title, which makes sense to me given the kanji. However, upon looking up 起き上がり小法師, I find the reading おきあがりこぼし(without the ...
2
votes
1answer
347 views
Japanese translation for “bakka!” (Not Baka)
I'm in the midst of creating a show flyer for an upcoming event and one of the artists uses the name "Bakka!" (without quotes)
I'm aware that the real word for this is Baka, so I'm curious as to how ...
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0answers
99 views
same reading, similar meaning, different Kanji [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
do people actually respect the nuances of 探す vs 捜す?
There are many kanji that I have come across with similar meanings, and (seemly coincidentally) identical readings. ...
1
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1answer
111 views
Why do days of the week use on-yomi kanji readings?
I would like to know if there is detailed information as to why days of the week use on-yomi readings, for example
月 in 月曜日 【げつようび】
Were these readings (as spoken) imported from the ...
1
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1answer
143 views
What is the correct reading for べき乗打切り待機法?
On this page, different readings are give in different dictionaries for べき乗打切り待機法: べきのりうちきりたいきほう in JMDict and ベキジョウウチキリタイキホウ in コンピューター用語辞典. The English translation given in both dictionaries are the ...
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0answers
127 views
What are some words with kanji/readings/meanings that don't match? [closed]
Maybe a hard to understand question, but for example, I love the word 百日紅 (さるすべり) because it's the name of a red flower and uses some very poetic kanji (one hundred days of red) but opts instead for a ...
1
vote
1answer
265 views
Beginner: book/ website for reading comprehension and vocabulary [closed]
I'm looking for a book/website that helps me to increase my reading skills and vocabulary. The only "problem" is, that it should be only written with hiragana and katakana. At the very best there ...
0
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1answer
141 views
When is 友 read as とも, and when is it read as ゆう?
友 can interpreted as とも or ゆう right?
So in which word/sentence/context do I use first and when do I pronounce it as another transcription?
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2answers
222 views
Is 郵便 exclusive to Japan Post in this reading problem?
The question is a the bottom since the context may be an issue.
Here is a problem from a study text (kanzen master N1 reading)
以下は（株）ANTONIOのホームページに掲載されていたおしらせである。問いに対する答えとして最もよいものを一つ選びなさい。
...
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0answers
92 views
How do you get Japanese e-books to read? [closed]
Sorry if this question is only marginally related to Japanese culture/learning, but I find nowhere else to ask such a question.
I have been studying Japanese for years and now want to read some ...
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4answers
247 views
How to know what Okurigana signify? [closed]
For example, the kanji for "one" has a kun reading of "hito(tsu)." I looked it up and found that it's the difference between "one" and "one thing," but how could you have known that without ...
