Reading Kanji — On'yomi and Kun'yomi

What You Will Learn in This Unit

You will be able to distinguish the way a single kanji is read. You will know the difference between on'yomi and kun'yomi, and understand why one character can have several readings. You will also learn what okurigana and furigana each indicate. After finishing this unit, you will be able to roughly guess the reading method of a kanji word when you see it.

On'yomi and Kun'yomi

Japanese kanji readings are divided into on'yomi (音読み) and kun'yomi (訓読み). On'yomi is a reading derived from the Chinese pronunciation of the character and adapted into Japanese sounds, while kun'yomi is a reading that attaches a native Japanese word with the same meaning to the kanji. 山 is read as やま in kun'yomi and as サン or セン in on'yomi.

As the table shows, single characters are often read with kun'yomi, and kanji words of two or more characters are often read with on'yomi.

Single Characters Are Often Kun'yomi; Two-Character Words Are Often On'yomi

A kanji that appears alone as a single character is usually read with the kun'yomi corresponding to its meaning. 木 is read き, 火 is read ひ, and 水 is read みず. On the other hand, kanji words made of two or more characters are often read with each character in on'yomi. 学校 is read がっこう, and 大学生 is read だいがくせい, where both the preceding and following characters are on'yomi. However, there are also two-character words read in kun'yomi, such as 大人(おとな), so the reading of each two-character word must be checked separately.

When One Character Has Several Readings

Some kanji have one kun'yomi and several on'yomi. 人 is read ひと, じん, or にん. 人(ひと) is a kun'yomi meaning 'person,' while 人口(じんこう) and 人気(にんき) are on'yomi words using じん and にん, respectively. No rule determines which on'yomi to use, so learn the reading together with each word.