Is there an "opposite"/"inverse" of 当て字・熟字訓?

Question

当て字 is using the reading of kanji instead of its meaning; it is the reading applied to the kanji. I'm wondering if there is a word for the opposite/inverse: having the kanji applied to a reading.

Here's my use-case: In 大阪弁・関西弁 (and possibly some others), it is common to hear 『や』 in place of 『だ』. So often when writing something to my friends, if I need to write 『だけど』, I'll change it to 『やけど』. Furthering this, I intentionally enter the text as the 『火傷』, and my friends find it humourous...mostly.

So it's like a 熟字訓 used as the inverse-当て字 of plain kana that would not normally (or at all) have associated kanji.

Is there a name for this? Or would people just say it's 当て字?

Answer 1

I am a little confused by your question, since 当て字 is already the opposite of 熟字訓, the former is reading Kanji by its sounds regardless of meaning, e.g. 寿司, the latter is the opposite, by its meaning regardless of sound, like 煙草 タバコ. These two are already the opposite of each other.

Your question seems to concern the fact sometimes we use Kanji to write words otherwise normally not written in Kanji, especially when that word is a result of sound changes, like the やけど you've mentioned.

I don't think there is a name for this, it's more like a meme thing, people do it because it creates a funny effect. Sometimes the word is replaced by Kanji without any changes, such as:

もう終わりだよこの国　＝＞　もう終わりだ横の国

Sometimes it's a result of contraction:

人柱お疲れ様　＝＞　人柱おつ　＝＞　人柱乙

Sometimes it's like the ones you've mentioned:

だけど　＝＞　やけど　＝＞　火傷

If you have to classify these, I'd say they all belong to 若者言葉, although it isn't "words usually in kana but written in Kanji", but all "meme languages". They can be anything, any contractions, any substitutions, any usage popularized among young people by any events that became a meme. You can find webpage dedicated to collecting such languages such as here: https://otokomaeken.com/column/2738/2