Kennin
Sho(w)dan!
- 20 Jan 2004
- 43
- 0
It oftenly is hard to know if a reading one hears is kun yomi or on yomi.
Now I've experienced some things which I use as some possible indicators, knowing they might not be true.
Now, I am quite sure they might not be true in every single case, but I think they might be true in MOST cases.
1. most or all of the assimilations of +ya +yu +yo... like for example "Ryū" (dragon). I think they pretty much are mostly on yomi. Why do I think this? Well, because in kun yomi, there would be a single kana for these if needed.
2. an "r" in the middle of the kanji reading most of the time seems to be kun yomi, as for example in "kara" (empty). In chinese, as far as I know, there is just one single sillable per character. There quite probably will not be an r (or an l) in the middle, I think.
3. More than one sillable in one kanji reading seems to be kun yomi most of the time, quite for the same reason as above. There are exceptions, of course, like "jutsu" (proficiency) but most of the time, I think on yomi is a single sillable reading.
4. When combining kanji and hiragana in one single term, like for example: "atemi"... this would be "窶懌?凪?堙?身". I think these are most likely kun yomi.
I cannot think of combinations where on yomi and hiragana are combined like this. Even more, I cannot think of reasons why it would be done.
NOW... Pretty pretty pretty PRETTY PLEASE...
If these theories I have, are complete and utter nonsense, don't be afraid to tell me! I am trying to understand the Japanese language bit by bit.
I think above rules might help me to get a feeling for it.
But if they are nonsense, they are no good, and I am better of discarding them!
On the other hand... if I am on the right track and above guidelines are correct most of the times, it might be that you think of other directions like these. I would be quite grateful for them!!!
Now I've experienced some things which I use as some possible indicators, knowing they might not be true.
Now, I am quite sure they might not be true in every single case, but I think they might be true in MOST cases.
1. most or all of the assimilations of +ya +yu +yo... like for example "Ryū" (dragon). I think they pretty much are mostly on yomi. Why do I think this? Well, because in kun yomi, there would be a single kana for these if needed.
2. an "r" in the middle of the kanji reading most of the time seems to be kun yomi, as for example in "kara" (empty). In chinese, as far as I know, there is just one single sillable per character. There quite probably will not be an r (or an l) in the middle, I think.
3. More than one sillable in one kanji reading seems to be kun yomi most of the time, quite for the same reason as above. There are exceptions, of course, like "jutsu" (proficiency) but most of the time, I think on yomi is a single sillable reading.
4. When combining kanji and hiragana in one single term, like for example: "atemi"... this would be "窶懌?凪?堙?身". I think these are most likely kun yomi.
I cannot think of combinations where on yomi and hiragana are combined like this. Even more, I cannot think of reasons why it would be done.
NOW... Pretty pretty pretty PRETTY PLEASE...
If these theories I have, are complete and utter nonsense, don't be afraid to tell me! I am trying to understand the Japanese language bit by bit.
I think above rules might help me to get a feeling for it.
But if they are nonsense, they are no good, and I am better of discarding them!
On the other hand... if I am on the right track and above guidelines are correct most of the times, it might be that you think of other directions like these. I would be quite grateful for them!!!