All languages have their quirks, and in the end, that’s what makes them so unique and special. How do you know which readings to use? I’ve broken them up into categories, such as numbers, time, people and places, because I’ve found that kanji are easiest to learn when I associate them with related words. “The Moon” is “tsuki” and “day” is “Hi”, but a more complicated concept like “every day” (mainichi) will use the Onyomi readings. kunyomi: Japanese reading of Chinese words (訓読み) Kunyomi is the Japanese reading of kanji. kanji n5 lesson 7 – JLPT N5.Hi everybody! Kunyomi is the reading using original Japanese of a kanji that has the same meaning. Differentiating Kunyomi and Onyomi. This isn't guaranteed, but it is the case more often than not. The best way to learn kanji isn’t reading all this, it’s actually studying it. Your first clue to use onyomi is when you’re looking at a word with multiple kanji strung together in a compound word. Multiply this by pretty much every other kanji. For example, in this verb 食べる (taberu), the kanji 食 (shoku - onyomi) is pronounced as "ta" in kunyomi (べる … We also participate in other affiliate advertising programs for products and services we believe in. Of course there are some exceptional cases too. The onyomi is closer to the original Chinese language and is mostly used for nouns. Click here to get a copy. Kunyomi is the original Japanese reading of the word. I also tried RTK and it didn’t even say how to pronounce it? Now to Kanji and the Kunyomi and Onyomi readings. Smart approach is read kanji with vocabulary. These hiragana are called okurigana. The next time you’re going to consider a Japanese word as a strong contender for onyomi reading is when you’re looking at a standalone kanji. Onyomi is the similar pronunciation of an original kanji. In time, as you get more familiar with the language, these differences will begin to become second nature. A Brief Introduction To Radicals: ありがとうございます. Hence, Japanese kanji has two pronunciation (or can be said as reading): 1. Learn new kanji and their proper readings in context to remember them better with interactive subtitles and video-based flashcards. So, long long ago, before Japan had a written language, Chinese characters started making their way across the sea from China to Japan. As you can imagine, these words weren’t always a one-to-one match, and the Japanese language added its own connotations as needed. Japanese speakers are very kind about these kinds of mistakes. You summarized very well.it is very helpful. Another trick is only add onyomi test cards (Q: Kanji+example words; A: onyomi) to Anki only if you learned at least two vocabulary words that use that onyomi then put those words as the examples. How to determine onyomi and kunyomi of each kanji character? How? With practice, you’ll get better at choosing the right kanji readings at the right times. Katie Gatto is a college professor of computer science and a journalist. FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. For Kunyomi, a common word is 一人 ひとり, one person or alone. Well, they all came from the onyomi side of the picture. All Rights Reserved. Done. There is no onyomi kanji and kunyomi kanji. Well, these are the Chinese and Japanese readings, respectively. Great answer -you replied to my own, different question as well as his. Are they regional dialects? A helpful trick is to remember that a kunyomi is almost always used when you see a single kanji that’s followed by a hiragana character that makes up part of the word. Japanese kanji mostly borrow or adapt from Chinese kanji. However many Japanese words were too long to imply a single Kanji. If you see the character on its own (hiragana on both sides), you've likely got an kunyomi. Just take care, because there are a few notable exceptions such as 陣内 (じんない), 伊藤 (いとう) and 佐藤 (さとう), which are read in the onyomi style. So, in this post, I'll explain what is kun'yomi, what is on'yomi, and what's their importance in the language. Gradually, those Chinese pronunciations became sounding more Japanese. Once I decided to just start reading (using Kanji dictionaries for words I didn't know) I was amazed at how quickly I started recognizing words. For example: These are all kunyomi readings—obviously because they’re kanji slapped onto traditionally Japanese place names. I tried learning kanji at the beginning of my Japanese studies and it was hard because I was trying write words and concepts that I hadn't really learned before. Common words using this Kanji : 新聞 （しんぶん） ： newspaper Kun-yomi (Japanese Reading) [1] This reading is used with hiragana character. The only thing was to memorize them but it takes too long period. Yes. If you see the character with other kanji, it's likely a onyomi. How To Learn Kanji? I started learning Kanji through memorization and became overwhelmed very quickly. Right know I am at the time where I have to fill gaps in sentences to fully read and understand. Kun-yomi (Japanese Reading) [1] This reading is used with hiragana character.