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Individual kanji have on and kun readings. Which character in a multiple kanji word determines if the word has an on or kun reading? 月曜日 is a better example, on on kun. Would Nichiyoubi be considered an onyomi or kunyomi word?

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    "ni", "hon", "jin" are all on readings. How can it be kun when three on readings are combined?
    – naruto
    Sep 14, 2019 at 12:30
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    I dont know why the question was downvoted.
    – Jack Bosma
    Sep 16, 2019 at 13:57

1 Answer 1

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Most multi-kanji words have either only on-readings or only kun-readings, but there are exceptions. For example, 時計 is neither purely kun nor purely on. (と is a kun-reading, けい is an on-reading)

Words like 時計 are called kun-on compounds or 湯桶読み. Likewise, words like 毎年 is called on-kun compounds or 重箱読み.

See: Can a Japanese word combine both on'yomi and kun'yomi characters?

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