Jukujikun
Jukujikun ( Japanese 熟字 訓 ) is a special form of kun reading of Kanji ( Chinese characters used in the Japanese language ). The jukujikun only occurs in fixed compounds ( 熟語 , jukugo ), i.e. combinations of two or more characters.
A number of terms in Chinese are represented by combining two characters, for example 明日 for tomorrow. If there was a single word for it in Japanese, it was written with this combination of characters, but read as one word, in this case old Japanese asu or modern ashita . A Sino Japanese reading of the word also exists myōnichi , this is, however, written language .
In some cases, the Jukujikun reading of a combination of characters also has a different meaning than the Sino-Japanese reading. If 今日 Sino Japanese konnichi read, it means "today, currently, currently" while kyō "today, this day" means.
In some jukujikun, okurigana are appended to the word to mark the reading, for example in the kanji spelling of oishii ( 美味 し い , “delicious”).
Some of the Jukujikun readings are no longer common in the modern language, and the words are written in hiragana or katakana instead .
| compound | Jukujikun | Onyomi | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day information and traditional month names | |||
| 一 昨日 | ototoi | issakujitsu | the day before yesterday |
| 昨日 | movie theater | sakujitsu | yesterday |
| 今日 | kyō | konnichi | today // nowadays |
| 今年 | kotoshi | can | this year |
| 今朝 | kesa | konchō | this morning |
| 明日 | asu , ashita | myōnichi | tomorrow |
| 明 後 日 | asatte | myōgonichi | day after tomorrow |
| 如月 | kisaragi | - | second month of the lunar calendar |
| 弥 生 | yayoi | - | third month of the lunar calendar; s. a. Yayoi time |
| Seasons and weather | |||
| 五月 雨 | samidare | - | early summer rain |
| 時 雨 | shigure | - | autumn rain shower |
| 梅雨 | tsuyu | baiu | Rainy season (June-July) |
| 雪崩 | nadare | - | Avalanche |
| 吹 雪 | fubuki | - | Snowstorm |
| 陽 炎 | kagerō | yōen | Heat shimmer |
| 紅葉 | momiji | kōyō | Fall foliage |
| 疾風 | hayate | shippu | Storm wind |
| Counting words | |||
| 一 人 | hitori | - | a person |
| 二人 | futari | - | Two people |
| 一寸 | chotto | issun | pretty // a Sun (3.03 cm) |
| Kinship relationships | |||
| 従 兄弟 | itoko | jūkeitei | cousin |
| 従 姉妹 | itoko | jushimai | cousin |
| 伯父 | oji | hakufu | Uncle (older brother of mother / father) |
| 叔父 | oji | shukufu | Uncle (younger brother of mother / father) |
| 伯母 | oba | hakubo | Aunt (older sister of mother / father) |
| 叔母 | oba | shukubo | Aunt (younger sister of mother / father) |
| 曾孫 | himago | sōson | Great-grandchildren |
| 玄孫 | yashago | genson | Great-great-grandchildren |
| plants | |||
| 果物 | kudamono | - | fruit |
| 小豆 | azuki | - | Adzuki bean |
| 山葵 | wasabi | - | Wasabi |
| 百合 | yuri | - | Lilies |
| Adjectives / adverbs | |||
| 可愛 い | kawaii | - | cute |
| 可笑 し い | okashii | - | amusing; ridiculous; strange |
| 美味 し い | oishii | - | delicious |
| 生 憎 | ainiku | - | unfortunately, unfortunately |
| Others | |||
| 太 刀 | tachi | - | Tachi |
| 山 車 | dashi | - | decorated float |
| 凸凹 | dekoboko | - | uneven |
| 凹凸 | - | ōtotsu | concave-convex, uneven |
| 雑 魚 | zako | - | Little fish, little fish |
| 田 舎 | inaka | densha | Country, rural area |
See also
The counterpart to the Jukujikun, i.e. special readings in certain combinations of characters, are the Ateji , special spellings for individual words.
Web links
- Jōyō Kanji table of the Japanese Ministry of Education with a list of Jukujikun in the appendix, pdf