Questions tagged [homophonic-kanji]
異字同音・異字同訓. Questions concerned with the fact that many kanji (漢字) may share a reading or pronunciation.
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How do you write someone's name if you don't know what kanji to use?
Since kanji can have multiple pronunciations, how would you know how to write someone's name if you've only heard it spoken? What's the convention? Would you just guess, or maybe write it out in ...
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2
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Japanese don't learn kanji meaning only readings? Does it make sense for a kanji to have a key meaning to identify it?
As I understand it works like this. By the time Japanese kids enter first grade they have more or less decent vocabulary of words they know. So when kanjis are taught I can't even imagine how to tell ...
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3
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What is the difference between 護る and 守る?
Is there any difference in meaning between 護{まも}る and 守{まも}る? When there are multiple kanji for a particular reading (like 暑{あつ}い/熱{あつ}い or 初{はじ}め/始{はじ}め), they are frequently used in different ...
19
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3
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Why are there many kanji that are read and mean the same?
My question comes from this case:
会う
逢う
遭う
遇う
I see they all are read あう, and mean "to meet". So, why are there these many cases? And more important, which one should I use? I knew 会う, and when I ...
29
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2
answers
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What's the difference between the kanji forms for わかる?
The verb わかる can be written using either 分かる, 判る, or 解る - what's the semantic difference between these forms, if any?
21
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3
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do people actually respect the nuances of 探す vs 捜す?
Part 1
I understand 探す to be to search for something (general)
and 捜す to be to search for something lost
But do people actually care about the difference in nuance when they use it?
I mean do ...
3
votes
1
answer
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Origin of 夜露死苦?
I've seen よろしく written out as 夜露死苦 on a couple of occasions where it's being used sardonically. At first I thought it was just authors having fun substituting characters that sound the same, but it ...
19
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3
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Dissecting つく verbs
I think we all are familiar with する verbs, which are verbs that are formed by appending する to nouns. Examples include 勉強する, 愛する etc. This pattern is very convenient because it can be appended to ...
15
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2
answers
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Nuances between the different kanji spellings of あける:明ける vs. 開ける vs. 空ける
開ける, 明ける and 空ける are all read as あける.
From their kanji, it is obvious that 開ける has to do more with opening (a door etc), 明ける with dawning and 空ける with emptying...
However, JMDict gives the exact ...
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What's with all the possible kanji for とる?
Skimming through the options my IME presents for とる, I'm seeing a whole lot of choices, including the following:
取る
撮る
録る
執る
摂る
捕る
獲る
穫る
採る
盗る
While I've seen 取る ("to take") and 撮る ("to record") ...
7
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3
answers
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Questions about 背負う
背負う is pronounced せおう, but many dictionaries also list a second pronunciation as しょう.
I've never heard it pronounced as しょう in practice. In what situations does it have this pronunciation? Is that ...
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1
answer
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Why do authors choose to use obscure/old ways to write words?
To be clear, this is not a question on why alternate forms exist. Obviously there are a lot of historical reasons behind them. It is also not about why people use rarer alternate forms generally. ...
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Confused in choosing 早い versus 速い
In my understanding, 速い is used for motion and 早い represents "early".
Which one is the correct one in this example?
A: 授業がそろそろ始まるので、早く来てください。
B: 授業がそろそろ始まるので、速く来てください。
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1
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Multiple common kanji for a word: which to use?
I have been using jisho.org and aedict (android) to look at the definition, kanji and reading of words. Sometimes though, they list words that have multiple kanji in use and they are all indicated as "...
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1
answer
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Is there a fundamental difference between homonyms with close meaning and words with multiple possible kanji?
I noticed that dictionaries usually treat differently some homonyms, which for a learner's perspective look similar. For example:
熱い and 暑い are usually two different entries
早い and 速い are usually one ...
2
votes
2
answers
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Specific examples of tonal Chinese words rendered into Japanese
It is often said that Japanese contains a large number of homonyms because there was no way to render tonal Chinese words into Japanese. This makes complete sense. But I am looking for specific ...
2
votes
2
answers
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Difference between 黒齣 and 黒駒
I'm trying to figure out if there's a difference in meaning/translation between
黒齣
and
黒駒
I've attached an image just to make sure that I didn't accidently look up the wrong character (I'm 99% ...
49
votes
5
answers
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If Kanji are necessary to disambiguate homophones, how come it's still used, being that Japanese people seem to know the difference when speaking?
I'm a beginner.
People argue for Kanji being that it helps disambiguate homophones in written Japanese, but in spoken Japanese, kanji (or any other visual aid) are not available, yet people seem to ...
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3
answers
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What's the difference between "家" (ya), "屋" (ya), and "や" (ya) as used in the names of shops/stores/restaurants?
As a gyudon addict I have noticed that the names of the three major national restaurant chains all end in "ya" but they used two different characters:
"吉野家" (Yoshinoya)
"松屋" (Matsuya)
"すき家" (Sukiya)
...
20
votes
2
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When to use 聴く vs 聞く vs 訊く?
When should one use 聴く instead of 聞く? Is there a precise rule for which one to use in which situation?
I have a feeling that 聞 is used more when the source of the sound is a person or other living ...
18
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2
answers
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What's the difference between 上る、登る and 昇る?
According to jisho.org, they all have the same meanings, to climb, to rise, to ascend. Is that true? And do they have differences in usage?
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2
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Difference between 見る and 観る?
Lately I've seen in some dialog games with this difference. They use 観る rather than 見る, e.g.:
・あなたテレビ観るかな。
・あんまり観ない方なんだ。
So I'm thinking I can use 見る to make the same dialog. However there must be a ...
11
votes
1
answer
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What is the difference between 恰好 and 格好?
Is there any difference between the words 格好 and 恰好? Can I actually call them different words, or is it that they are just the same word written differently? I've been told that they have exactly the ...
11
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6
answers
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Computer: 計算機 or 計算器?
What is the difference between the two kanji variants for 「けいさんき」, the other word for 「コンピューター」?
計算器
計算機
9
votes
1
answer
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Oceans ー Thick or Big?
Straightforward question. The Pacific Ocean is 太平洋【たい・へい・よう】 and the Atlantic Ocean is 大西洋【たい・せい・よう】. What was the reasoning in using a different character for the たい in each? And why 太 for Pacific ...
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Most egregious examples of the reading of a kanji changing due to (textually) distant characters
I've been thinking about how Japanese people can read a text (out loud, say) when the readings of the kanji can be so variable depending on okurigana, suffixes, or prefixes that change the meaning and/...
6
votes
1
answer
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"Dive" = "fly into"?
The words 飛ぶ and 跳ぶ are both read as とぶ, the former meaning "to fly" and the latter meaning "to jump" (generally; don't know if they are interchangeable at all).
The compound-verb suffix 〜込【こ】む means ...
5
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0
answers
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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. But the ...
4
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3
answers
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Where can I find the nuance/meaning differences between words with different kanji options?
This question is related to the questions (here) and (here) regarding a word or verb with multiple kanji options, for example [作る、造る、創る] or [蔵、倉、庫]
Is there a resource somewhere that will tell me ...
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votes
2
answers
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Same kanji compound, with different readings, and meanings depend on the reading? (heteronyms)
In the thread titled is "こっかい" a heteronym?, the accepted answer explains that there are some because of "pitch accent". However, in Japanese, there are more than one way to think about heteronyms.
...
3
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2
answers
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Differents ways to write 箸 [duplicate]
I realized when looking for the kanji for chopsticks that you can actually find 2 versions of the 箸 kanji (see for example 箸 (Jisho) or 箸 (Jitenon)). Namely, there is sometimes a little stroke above ...
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2
answers
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What's the difference between 生む and 産む?
These two words both appear to have the meaning "to give birth" or "to produce".
However, what is the difference between the two kanji used?
I originally assumed that 生む meant "to give birth" and 産む ...
2
votes
1
answer
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What is the difference between 目を細める and 眼を細める
Example:
「できるのか?」【大男】
大男が眼を細めてくる
The definition for the first expression as given from weblio is
目の開き方を小さくする。
うれしそうにほほえみをうかべる
Is the reason that this line uses 眼 instead of 目 to ...
2
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1
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Difference between 誠, 実, and 本当
All of them means "truth; reality". 誠 is read as "まこと", and 実 as "じつ", however 実 can also be read as "まこと". 本当 seems to have an inclination to a thing or fact, rather than a concept, but it also means ...
2
votes
1
answer
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What is the difference between spellings しまう、仕舞う、終う、了う?
What is the difference of meanings between the spellings しまう、仕舞{しま}う、終{しま}う、了{しま}う?
Or at least, between the first two? (They are marked as common.)
If there is a source about such nuances, I'll ...
2
votes
1
answer
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When 澤 has a kunyomi of うるお
I'm working on another kanji riddle. 澤 has a kunyomi of うるお (followed by い or す). I've been digging around to try to figure out what this adjective(?) means. Swamp-like?
Is this word the same as ...
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1
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Difference between 越える and 超える
What is the difference between 越える【こえる】 and 超える【こえる】?