腸：「わた」か「ちょう」か

[Glenn]

I was wondering how this character is usually read when it's on its own. For instance, 腸の輪状筋 (and for that matter, is the second word りんじょうすじ?). Is it わた or ちょう?

 

[undrentide]

When talking about organs medically/academically, kanji are almost always pronounced with on-yomi.
腸の輪状筋 should be ちょうのりんじょうきん.

It is really rare these days to pronounce 腸 as わた - the only thing I can think of is 腸（はらわた） in 腸が煮えくり返る.

 

[Glenn]

I see. So わた isn't really used anymore, is it. I thought that might be the case, but just wanted to make sure. And 筋 is きん, eh? Someday I think I'll get the hang of this. It seems like there are just too many exceptions to take things like this for granted, but I guess reading it きん here makes more sense.

 

[undrentide]

As far as 筋 means muscle (including involuntary muscle of organs), it is pronounced 筋.
e.g.
筋力（きんりょく）トレーニング
三角筋（さんかくきん）
心筋（しんきん）

When one is talking about body parts and say 筋（すじ）, it usually refers to 腱（けん） i.e. tendon.
e.g.
転んで足の筋（すじ）を傷めた。 I fell down and damaged the tendon of my leg.
首の筋（すじ）を違えた。 I got a crick in my neck.

すじ（筋） generally means thin strips, something thin and long.
Such as stripes, fibre, streets, etc.
Maybe you've heard of 御堂筋（みどうすじ） in Osaka?

 

[Glenn]

I actually had to seek out 御堂筋 in order to go to the American Counsulate and get a power of attorney form notarized, so yeah, I have heard of it.

Thanks for the info.