Last week we encountered this fun compound:

花環 (hanawa: wreath, garland)     flower + circle

The following version is actually much more common:

花輪 (hanawa: wreath, garland)     flower + circle

The second kanji has changed, but everything else remains the same: the yomi of hanawa, the meaning of “wreath, garland,” and the flower + circle breakdown.

Although 環 and 輪 look very different, both have the kun-yomi of wa, and both can mean “ring.” These similarities make them something like dead ringers!

Another Hanawa …

However, they’re not exactly alike. As we saw, 環 (KAN, wa) can have two meanings:

1. ring, circle, loop
2. to surround, encircle; around

Meanwhile, 輪 (RIN, wa) has the following meanings:

1. wheel, with the related meaning of “wheeled vehicle”
2. ring, circle, loop
3. periphery, outline

Originally, 輪 meant “wheel,” so it would make sense for us to investigate that side of this kanji‘s personality first. But since we’re coming straight from a discussion of 環 as “ring, circle, loop,” let’s look at the same qualities in 輪 today, saving the free-wheeling parts of 輪 for next week. We’ll examine the “periphery, outline” meaning then, too.

Sample Sentences with 輪 as “Ring, Circle, Loop” …

Wa Wa Wa

It’s easy to remember the on-yomi of 輪 because RIN sounds like “ring”! But compounds in which 輪 means “ring” seem to feature the on-yomi only about half the time. Otherwise, the reading is the kun-yomi wa, as in a word you may already know:

指輪 (yubiwa: ring (worn on finger))     finger + ring

For More Body Parts Decorated with 輪 …

Here’s another fun wa word:

輪ゴム (wagomu: rubberband)     ring + rubber

What do you get if you turn a rubberband inside out? The inverse, ゴム輪, can still mean “rubberband,” but your inversion can also change the rubberband into a rubber tire!

ゴム輪 (gomuwa: rubber tire)     rubber + wheel

This has become an uncommon way to refer to tires, as they’re all made of rubber nowadays (rather than wood or iron, as in the past).

For more fun, we can turn to the family circle:

内輪 (uchiwa: family circle, the inside)     inside + circle

Another Uchiwa …

Actually, I don’t find the family circle fun but rather the prospect of dissension therein:

内輪揉め (uchiwamome: internal dissension, family trouble)
     inside + circle + to debate vigorously

On the Peculiar Kanji 揉 …

OK, a little schadenfreude rearing its head there. Never mind about that. Here’s the upside of cliques, tight families, and other exclusive groups:

内輪受け (uchiwa-uke: private agreement; inside joke)
     inside + circle + to get

Not sure about the meaning of 受け (uke) here. This kanji can mean “to receive, accept, take, get, catch,” or even “to be modified.” I like the idea of “getting” an inside joke or of someone’s “catching” a reference. But it’s also intriguing to think of a person as a “receptacle” for a joke or as “being modified” by the act of hearing one.

Celestial Bodies

Let’s jump from small rubberbands and tight circles to something as large as celestial bodies. They appear to us as nearly perfect circles, so it’s not surprising that the 輪 kanji refers to quite a few objects in the sky. When it does, this character has the yomi of RIN:

日輪 (nichirin: the sun)     sun + circle
月輪 (getsurin: (full) moon)     moon + circle

If you insert one hiragana into the middle of this compound, you change the yomi of both kanji, as well as the meaning:

月の輪 (tsuki no wa: ring around the moon)
     moon + circle

The 月 kanji drops out of the next compound, but one possible meaning involves the moon:

半輪 (hanrin: semicircle; half moon)     half + circle

Once again, 月 isn’t present in the next word, which only means “moon” and has the most puzzling breakdown:

氷輪 (hyōrin: moon)     ice + circle

What’s going on with ice + circle?! One dictionary says this 氷 refers to a cold-looking ring around the moon. Another dictionary defines 氷輪 as a moon so cold and shiny that it resembles ice.

Telling time by means of these celestial bodies, I’ve calculated that the moment has arrived for your Verbal Logic Quiz!

Verbal Logic Quiz …