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On'yomi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On'yomi (音読み, on'yomi; [oɰ̃.jo.mi], lit. "sound reading"), also called ondoku (音読), are Japanese readings of kanji based on the Chinese pronunciations associated with those characters when they were borrowed. The forms were adapted to Japanese phonology and became established as readings of individual characters. They contrast with kun'yomi, which associate characters with native Japanese words on the basis of meaning.[1][2]

A character may have more than one on'yomi because readings entered Japanese at different times and from different regional varieties of Chinese.[3][4] The principal historical strata are go-on, kan-on, and tō-on; kan'yō-on are customary readings not assigned to those three systems.[2][5]

Usage

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On'yomi occur especially in multi-kanji Sino-Japanese compounds. These include words borrowed from Chinese, often together with cultural objects or concepts, and compounds coined in Japan from Sino-Japanese morphemes.[6][7] The historical relation is sometimes compared with the layers of Romance and Greek vocabulary in English. Sino-Japanese words range in register from everyday conversation to highly formal discourse, so the comparison does not imply that every such word is learned or formal.[7]

Some kokuji (characters created in Japan) also have on'yomi formed by analogy with a phonetic component. 働 is a Japanese-created character read dō, with 動 as its phonetic element; 腺, also a kokuji, is read sen and uses 泉 as its phonetic element.[8][9]

Characteristics

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Chinese source syllables were reshaped to fit the sound patterns available in Japanese at the time of borrowing, and later Japanese sound changes further altered the resulting forms. This adaptation is one reason modern on'yomi can differ substantially from both reconstructed historical Chinese and modern Chinese pronunciations.[10][7]

Sino-Japanese roots are at most two morae long: they may consist of one light syllable, one heavy syllable, or two light syllables. Adaptation produced long vowels and the moraic nasal /N/, while historical Chinese obstruent codas were represented with an added vowel, yielding forms ending in sequences such as -ku, -ki, -tsu, or -chi. Some of these sequences later underwent vowel loss or consonant gemination in compounds.[7][11]

Classification

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On'yomi are generally classified into the following groups:[3]

  • Go-on (呉音; "Wu sound") is the earlier major stratum, established before kan-on. It is traditionally associated with southern Chinese readings and transmission through the Korean Peninsula, and remains common in Buddhist vocabulary.[12]
  • Kan-on (漢音; "Han sound") was introduced mainly in the late Nara period and early Heian period by envoys, students, and monks returning from Tang China. It was associated with reading traditions of Chang'an and Luoyang and was officially promoted as an orthodox pronunciation.[13]
  • Tō-on (唐音; "Tang sound"), also called Tōsō-on (唐宋音; "Tang and Song sound"), comprises later readings introduced after go-on and kan-on, from the Northern Song period through the Edo period via traders, Zen and Ōbaku monks, and Nagasaki interpreters. Its sources and regional backgrounds are diverse.[14]
  • Kan'yō-on (慣用音; "customary sound") comprises widely used readings outside the go-on, kan-on, and tō-on classifications. Some arose through historical changes or analogy and do not match the regular correspondences used by dictionaries to classify the three historical strata.[5]

Kan-on gradually became the most widely used historical layer, but readings from the other strata remain established in particular words. Go-on is especially common in Buddhist vocabulary and early loans. Later tō-on occurs in words such as isu (椅子, "chair"), futon (布団, "bedding"), and andon (行灯, "paper lantern").[11] The strata are historically related but do not provide a matching reading for every character, and later tō-on reflects several later Chinese varieties rather than a single continuation of the earlier systems.[11]

Ongana

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Ongana (音仮名) are a type of Man'yōgana in which a character's on reading is used phonographically.[15] For example:

  • shi (志) + ma (麻) → shima (志麻; kun'yomi of 島 'island')
  • to (登) + ki (岐) → toki (登岐; kun'yomi of 時 'time')

Examples

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The same character may have readings from several strata. The table preserves the article's earlier range of examples while correcting classifications against Digital Daijisen; a dash means that no reading from that category is listed in the cited entry.

Examples
Kanji Meaning Go-on Kan-on Tō-on Kan'yō-on Middle Chinese[16]
明 bright myō mei min —[17] mjaeng
行 go gyō kō an —[18] haeng ("walk")
極 extreme goku kyoku — —[19] gik
珠 pearl shu shu — —[20] tsyu
度 degree do to — —[21] duH, dak
輸 transport — shu — yu[22] syu
雄 masculine — yū — —[23] hjuwng
熊 bear — yū — —[24] hjuwng
子 child shi shi su —[25] tsiX
清 clear shō sei shin —[26] tshjeng
京 capital kyō kei kin —[27] kjaeng
兵 soldier hyō hei — —[28] pjaeng
強 strong gō kyō — —[29] gjang

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ 音読み. ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  2. 1 2 漢字音. ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  3. 1 2 Coulmas, Florian (1991). Writing Systems of the World. Basil Blackwell. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-631-18028-9.
  4. ↑ Shibatani, Masayoshi (1990). The Languages of Japan. Cambridge University Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-521-36918-3.
  5. 1 2 慣用音. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  6. ↑ 漢語. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Itō, Junko; Mester, Armin (2015). "Sino-Japanese phonology" (PDF). In Kubozono, Haruo (ed.). Handbook of Japanese Phonetics and Phonology. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 289–312. doi:10.1515/9781614511984.289. ISBN 978-1-61451-198-4.
  8. ↑ 働. 普及版 字通 (in Japanese). Heibonsha. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  9. ↑ 腺. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  10. ↑ Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010). A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 274–291. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511778322. ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6.
  11. 1 2 3 日本語の世界2 漢字音・漢語. 大辞林 第三版 (in Japanese). 三省堂. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  12. ↑ 呉音. 改訂新版 世界大百科事典 (in Japanese). Heibonsha. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  13. ↑ 漢音. 改訂新版 世界大百科事典 (in Japanese). Heibonsha. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  14. ↑ 唐音. 改訂新版 世界大百科事典 (in Japanese). Heibonsha. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  15. ↑ 音仮名. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  16. ↑ Baxter, William H.; Sagart, Laurent (20 September 2014). "Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese reconstruction, version 1.1" (PDF). Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  17. ↑ 明. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  18. ↑ 行. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  19. ↑ 極. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  20. ↑ 珠. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  21. ↑ 度. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  22. ↑ 輸. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  23. ↑ 雄. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  24. ↑ 熊. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  25. ↑ 子. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  26. ↑ 清. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  27. ↑ 京. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  28. ↑ 兵. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
  29. ↑ 強. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Kotobank.
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