How to Read Kanji - On- & Kun- Readings Explained

Learning kanji can be a difficult task for the most seasoned Japanese speaker. Kanji have two distinct readings - On- and Kun-. Many use different readings for completely different words. On top of that, many have multiple On and Kun readings to further complicate which one to use to pronounce a word.

In general, the On is used in compounds, words with more than one kanji in them, and the Kun is used when the kanji is by itself. You'll come to see that is not always the case though, as the language is riddled with exceptions and exceptions to those exceptions.

For the time being, I'll try to simplify it for everyone with some simple definitions of the two readings and explanations as to when to use them.

音読み On'yomi, Chinese Reading or, simply, the On- Reading

音(On-) is basically the word 'sound' in Japanese and represents the fact the 音 reading is the adaption of the Chinese reading of the kanji in question. These primarily occur in compound words (ie - more than one kanji in the word), many of which are the result of the adoption of Chinese words for concepts that either didn't exist in Japanese or could not be articulated as elegantly using native words. Of note, while the 音 reading is based on Chinese sounds and readings, they barely sound anything like the current day Chinese language due to the separate evolutions of both languages.

Some examples are the various names of the months we went over in my vocabulary building post, It's That Time of Month. Another is as follows:

一月 ( いちがつ) January

This is simply one (一) + month (月). Both use the 音 reading for the kanji involved as it is a compound and they form a new word, which is independant from the original meaning of the kanji being used (one and moon).


訓読み Kun'yomi, Japanese Reading or, simply, the Kun- Reading

In comparison, the 訓(Kun-) reading is simply the Japanese reading of the meaning of the Chinese kanji when it was first introduced. For instance, 月 was the Chinese kanji for Moon and when it became the Japanese version, the 訓 reading became つき, the then, and current, Japanese word for moon.

Sticking with the moon / month example from the 音 section, 月 by itself means moon. Take this sentence as an example.

きれいな月ですね which means, "Pretty moon, isn't it?" or "What a pretty moon!" or some variation of the statement that it is a pretty moon. We are referring solely to the moon and thus the kanji takes on the 訓 reading.


Conclusion

This is just a simple introduction to kanji readings, but I'm sure you're already scratching your head over how complicated something so simple should be. Just remember the simple rule of 音 for compounds and 訓 for single words and you should be fine in general.

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