guesskanjireading

How To Guess A Kanjis Reading That You Dont Know

April 30, 203 !" Koi#hi $$ %o&&ents
'( "ou stud" kanji (or long enough "oull !egin to see patterns e&erge) At
*rst, the" wont &ake too &u#h sense and "oull think its pure lu#k) Youll
&ake a #ouple o( #onne#tions and sa" +He", -i#e, This &ade it easier to
re&e&!er this kanji) .u#k" &e)/ Then, "oull go a!out "our li(e as i(
e0er"thing was as it see&s) 1hat i( ' told "ou that "ou #ould ha0e learned the
readings o( these kanji &ore 2ui#kl" had "ou reali3ed (ro& teh start that
these readings werent just a #oin#iden#e4 Did "ou know that there are
a#tuall" radi#als that are designed to show "ou the reading o( a parti#ular
kanji4
-ot all kanji has this reading #o&pound, howe0er) Apparentl" 567 o( the jo"o
kanji ha0e this phoneti# #o&pound radi#al inside o( the&, though that
doesnt &ean the"re alwa"s help(ul to "ou, it just &eans one o( these
radi#als e8ists there) .ets *rst take a #loser look at how "ou #an *nd these
+phoneti# #o&pounds)/
The Anato&" 9( A Kanji
anato&"illust
A standard kanji is &ade o( a #ouple o( parts :and so&eti&es so&e gar!age;)
The le(t side < top is usuall" the +#lassi*er radi#al)/ This is the radi#al that "ou
#an use to look up the kanji in a kanji di#tionar") =o&eti&es it &a" e0en gi0e
a hint to the &eaning o( a kanji, though this is prett" hit or &iss :&ostl"
&iss;) The right side is usuall" whats known as the +phoneti# #o&pound)/
This portion has a spe#i*# reading atta#hed to it) '( "ou see this phoneti#
#o&pound, "ou #an so&eti&es guess the reading o( the kanji) =o&eti&es !"
learning one phoneti# #o&pounds reading "ou #an know how to read si8 or
se0en other kanji that #ontain it)
-ow there are e8#eptions> tons o( the&, un(ortunatel")
?irst o( all, so&eti&es the phoneti# #o&pound is on the le(t side, and not the
right) This happens when the #lassi*er radi#al is one o( those #lassi*er
radi#als that nor&all" gets put on the right side) An"wa"s, "oull ha0e to
wat#h out (or these)
=e#ondl", not all kanji ha0e a phoneti# #o&pound inside o( the&) .ike '
&entioned earlier, onl" 567 o( the& ha0e it, and the"re not parti#ularl"
use(ul) 9( the ones that do ha0e a phoneti# #o&pound, around 2@7 ha0e
readings that arent #onsistent and are irregular) A0en the ones that are (airl"
#onsistent with their readings ha0e e8#eptions) Basi#all", this te#hni2ue is at
!est a wa" to guess the reading o( a kanji and nothing &ore) =till, so&ething
is !etter than nothing) Cust i&agine i( "oure taking the C.DT and "oure on the
kanji se#tion) This sort o( thing will help "ou get a (ew e8tra answers #orre#t)
Dhoneti# %o&pounds And Their Kanji
To *nd the phoneti# #o&pounds, ' sat down with a kanji di#tionar" going
through all the possi!le readings in the !a#k inde8) A(ter spending a!out a
hal( hour going through these one !" one, ' reali3ed that so&eone else has
pro!a!l" done all the work (or &e) Thank goodness, so&eone had) .u#kil" (or
&e, a Hiroko Townsend o( =an Diego =tate Eni0ersit" put in a lot o( work into
her thesis, listing these out (or e0er"one to enjo") Thanks Hiroko, Youre a
!oss)
Here are the radi#als that #ontain (airl" #onsistent phoneti# #o&pounds)
There are so&e e8#eptions :not listed !elow;, !ut in general the"re prett"
straight(orward) '( "ou learn the phoneti# radi#al < kanji in the le(t side #olu&n
then "ou know the readings (or all the kanji to its right) ?or so&e kanji thats
onl" slightl" use(ul) ?or others, "ou learn the readings o( a lot o( kanji)
:; F , ,
:; F , , , , ,
:; F , , , ,
:; F , , ,
:; F , , !, ", #, $, %,
& :'; F (, ), *
+ :,; F -, ., /
0 :1, ; F 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, :, ;, <
= :>'; F ?, @, A, B, C
D :; F E, F, G
H :I; F J, K, L, M, N, O
P :Q; F R, S, T
U :I; F V, W, X, Y
Z :I[; F \, ], ^, _, `, a, b, c, d
e :f; F g, h, i, h, j
k :Q; F l, m, n, o
p :1; F q, r, s, t, u, v
w :; F x, y, z, {, |, }
~ :; F , , , , , , , , ,
:; F , , , ,
:; F , , , , ,
:,; F , , ,
:; F , , , ,
:; F , , ,
:; F , , , -, ,
:'; F , , , ,
:,; F , , , ,
:,; F , , , , ,
:; F , , ,
:; F , , , , , ,
:; F , , , ,
:'; F , ,
:[; F , , ,
:; F , , , , , ,
:; F , ,
:; F
:; F
:; F , , , , , ,
:, ; F , , ,
:,; F , ,
:; F , , ,
:,'; F , , ,
:; F , , , ,
:1; F , , , , , , ,
:; F !, ", #
$ :,; F %, &, ', (, )
* :,; F +, ,, -
. :/; F 0, 1) 2
3 :/; F 4, 5, 6
7 :; F 8, 9, :, ;, <
= :>[, ,[; F >, ?, @, A
B :>; F C, D, E
F :f; F G, H, I, J, K, L
M :1; F N, O, P
Q :; F R, S, T, U
V :; F W, X, Y
Z :; F [, \, ]
^ :; F _, `, a, b, c
d :; F e, f, g
h :i; F j, k, l
m :; F n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u
v :,w[; F x, y, z
{ :,; F |, }, ~
:,; F , , ,
:; F , , ,
:; F , , ,
:[; F , ,
:; F , ,
:,; F
:[; F , , , , ,
:; F , , ,
:; F , ,
:; F , , -,
:; F , ,
:; F , , , ,
Eses a radi#al (ro& o!solete Capanese
G :; F , ,
GG :; F , , , ,
:i[; F , , , ,
GG :/; F , , , ,
G :; F , , ,
GG :; F , , , ,
:; F
GG :; F , ,
GG :; F , ,
GG :,; F , ,
GG :1; F , , , , ,
GG :,'; F , , , , ,
GG :; F , ,
GG :; F , ,
:; F , , , , ,
GG :Q[; F , , , , ,
GG :/; F , ,
G :; F ,
G :; F , ,
G re&o0e the !otto& radi#al #o&ponent
GG re&o0e the le(t side radi#al #o&ponent
That right there is appro8i&atel" 00 kanji<radi#als that, i( "ou learn the
reading o( the&, "ou #an guess the reading o( around @00 total kanji) Thats
around <$ o( the jo"o kanji list) -ot a !ad short#ut, ' think one issue is that a
lot o( people dont know that this little tri#k e8ists) Cust !" knowing that "ou
#an do this, "oull !egin to noti#e these patterns showing up in "our own kanji
learning) This will help to a##elerate "our kanji learning !" a #onsidera!le
a&ount in the long run)
=o, i( "oure stud"ing kanji, go through this list and start &aking the
#onne#tions) 1hat phoneti# #o&pounds do "ou alread" know4 -ow, see what
other kanji there are to the right that "ou know) =ee how it all sort o( &akes
sense4 Kanji isnt as insane as people tend to think, though its still super
#o&pli#ated no &atter how "ou look at it) Youll spend a lot o( ti&e learning
the kanji :e0en i( "oure using, sa", 1aniKani;, !ut things like this will win "ou
so&e e8tra ti&e)
Good lu#k stud"ing that kanji thing,