Can kanji be read differently?

Because of the way they have been adopted into Japanese, a single kanji may be used to write one or more different words—or, in some cases, morphemes—and thus the same character may be pronounced in different ways. From the reader’s point of view, kanji are said to have one or more different “readings”.

How many kanji do I need to know to read?

Originally Answered: How many Kanji do you need to know? To be fluent in standard Japanese reading, you need to know between 1945 and 2000 kanji.

Is there a logic behind kanji?

Students usually learn kanji by tracing characters stroke by stroke, and then reproducing them on their own. By the same logic, kanji like 歌 are easier to remember as a sum of their components (可可欠). So, when you practice writing your characters, consciously write them out component by component.

What is the difference between standalone kanji and Compound kanji?

As a general rule, standalone kanji use the Japanese reading, and those within a compound use the Chinese one, but not always. Sometimes compound kanji use Japanese readings or combine Chinese and Japanese ones. This is why reading Japanese can be a real headache. These sound changes mostly concern compounds that use Japanese readings.

What is the difference between Chinese and Japanese kanji?

Kanji usually have two different readings: a Chinese one ( “on yomi”) and a Japanese one ( “kun yomi” ). As a general rule, standalone kanji use the Japanese reading, and those within a compound use the Chinese one, but not always. Sometimes compound kanji use Japanese readings or combine Chinese and Japanese ones.

Why does a kanjialone have a combined kun’yomireading?

3) a kanjialone has a combined kun’yomireading because a unique kanjiexisted in Chinese for a word made up of two words in Japanese. It doesn’t break the main rules but we can see sort of a “orally combined word” on a unique kanji: