When to Use On-Reading and Kun-Reading for Kanji in Japanese Writing

When to Use On-Reading and Kun-Reading for Kanji in Japanese Writing Kanji are  characters used in modern Japanese writing, equivalent to the Arabic letters in the alphabet used in English, French, and other Western languages. Theyre based on written Chinese characters, and along with hiragana and katakana, kanji make up all of written Japanese.   Kanji was imported from China around the fifth century. The Japanese incorporated both the original Chinese reading and their native Japanese reading, based on what was then an entirely spoken version of the Japanese language.    Sometimes in Japanese, the pronunciation of a particular kanji character is based on its Chinese origin, but not in every instance. Since theyre based on an ancient version of the Chinese pronunciation, on-readings usually bear little resemblance to their modern-day counterparts.   Here we explain the difference between on-reading and kun-reading of kanji characters. Its not the easiest concept to understand and is probably not something beginning students of Japanese need to worry about. But if your goal is to become proficient or even fluent in Japanese, it will be important to understand the subtle differences between on-reading and kun-reading of some of the most used kanji characters in Japanese.   How to Decide Between On-Reading and Kun-Reading Simply put, on-reading (On-yomi) is the Chinese reading of a kanji character. It is based on the sound of the kanji character as pronounced by the Chinese at the time the character was introduced, and also from the area it was imported. So an  on-reading of a given word might be quite different from modern standard Mandarin. The kun-reading (Kun-yomi) is the native Japanese reading associated with the meaning of a kanji.   Meaning On-reading Kun-reading mountain () san yama river ( sen kawa flower () ka hana Almost all kanji have On-readings except for most of the kanji that were developed in Japan (e.g. è ¾ ¼ has only Kun-readings). Some dozen kanji dont have Kun-readings, but most kanji have multiple readings.   Unfortunately, there is no simple way to explain when to use  On-reading or Kun-reading. Those learning Japanese need to memorize how to  correctly stress syllables and proper  pronunciation  on an individual basis, one word at a time.   On-reading is usually used when the kanji is a part of a compound (two or more kanji characters are placed side by site). Kun-reading is used when the kanji is used on its own, either as a complete noun or as adjective stems and verb stems. This is not a hard and fast  rule, but at least you can make a better guess.   Lets take a look at the kanji character for æ ° ´ (water). The on-reading for the character is sui and the Kun-reading is mizu. æ ° ´ (mizu) is a word in its own right, meaning water. The kanji compound æ ° ´Ã¦â€ºÅ"æâ€" ¥(Wednesday) is read as suiyoubi. Kanji On-reading Kun-reading - ongaku(music) - otosound - seiza(constellation) - hoshi(star) - shinbun(newspaper) -atara(shii) (new) - shokuyoku(appetite) - ta(beru)(to eat)

Examples of Toponym or Place Name

Examples of Toponym or Place Name A toponym is a  place name or a word coined in association with the name of a place. Adjectives: toponymic and toponymous. The study of such place names is known as toponymics or toponymy- a branch of onomastics. Types of toponym include agronym (the name of a field or pasture), dromonym (the name of a transportation route), drymonym (the name of a forest or grove), econym (the name of a village or town), limnonym (the name of a lake or pond), and necronym (the name of a cemetery or burial ground). EtymologyFrom the Greek, place name Examples and Observations The name Chicago is first recorded in 1688 in a French document, where it appears as Chigagou, an Algonquian word meaning onion field.(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000)An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast.(Hackers and Spending Sprees, Newsweek, Nov. 5, 2008)Hooterville was Xanadu with pickup trucks, an odd yet comfortable land with an irresistible charm.(Craig Tomashoff, When Life Was Simple. The New York Times, July 4, 1999)The Influence of the DanesWhen we find more than 600 places like Grimsby, Whitby, Derby, Rugby, and Thoresby, with names ending in -ly, nearly all of them in the district occupied by the Danes, we have striking evidence of the number of Danes who settled in England.(Albert C. Baugh and Thomas Cable, A History of the English Language. Routledge Kegan Paul, 1978)Dutch TermsEnglishmen have pretty much considered anyone theyve come into contact with as being lazy , poor, cowardly, untrustworthy, thieving, and of substandard morality, a mind-set of superiority reflected in a litany of set phrases in the language. . . .Surprisingly, those who got the worst of English abuse were the Dutch. Most expressions we now use concerning the people of Holland are harmless, such as Dutch door, double Dutch, and Dutch oven, but previously, terms containing Dutch were the idiomatic equivalent of a Polack joke. A bookie who loses money is a Dutch book; Dutch courage is inspired only by booze; if youre in Dutch, youre in prison, or pregnant; and a Dutch widow is a prostitute. Still in wide use is to go Dutch, which describes an actionnot paying for your datethat languages around the rest of the globe call to go American.(John B. Marciano, Toponymity: An Atlas of Words. Bloomsbury, 2010) Toponyms From American Indian WordsThousands of toponyms in the United States and Canada derive from American Indian words. One is Chanhassen, a Twin Cities suburb in Minnesota. In the Sioux language, this word refers to the sugar maple tree. The place name translates to the tree with sweet juice. Sometimes the reference is not so pleasant. Stinkingwater Peak, Wyoming, takes its unflattering name from a nearby river.(Gerald R. Pitzl,  Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Greenwood, 2004)The MississippiIn Algonquian, the forms linked together in a toponym are descriptive as in Mohican missi-tuk big river, and the toponym as a whole is used to identify a particular place [that is, Mississippi].(William C. McCormack and Stephen A. Wurm, Approaches to Language: Anthropological Issues. Mouton, 1978)Magenta, Duffel Bag, and PaisleyMagenta is a reddish-pink color, and it is a toponym. The rather upbeat color is named after a downbeat scenethe blood-soaked battlefield at the Battle of Magenta in Italy in 1859 (Freeman, 1997). Other toponyms include duffel bag (Duffel, Belgium), sardines (the island of Sardinia), and paisley (Paisley, Scotland).(Dale D. Johnson, Bonnie von Hoff Johnson, and Kathleen Schlichting, Logology: Word and Language Play. Vocabulary Instruction: Research to Practice, ed. by James F. Baumann and Edward J. Kameenui. Guilford, 2004) Tuxedo Park, Marathon, Bikini, and LyceumWords that you might not suspect were toponyms include tuxedo (Tuxedo Park, New York), marathon (from the battle of Marathon, Greece . . .), spartan (from Sparta in ancient Greece), bikini (an atoll in the Pacific where the atomic and hydrogen bombs were tested), [and] lyceum (a gymnasium near Athens where Aristotle taught) . . ..(Charles H. Elster, What in the Word? Harvest, 2005)The Lighter Side of Toponyms: Westward Ho!The village of Westward Ho! in Devon, England, is the only place name in England that ends in an exclamation point. The village borrowed its name from the title of Charles Kingsleys popular novel set in nearby BidefordWestward Ho! (1855). Pronunciation: TOP-eh-nim