Question re: Kanji flashcards: 訓読み vs. 音読み?

[you2]

Hi all,

I am new to Japanese and to this site. Would someone please explain to me the meanings of "訓読み" vs. "音読み"? I see these two labels when I go under the "Kanji Flashcards" function, and I don't understand why for a given kanji character, there may be 2 pronunciations under "訓読み", and then a few totally different pronunciations under "音読み"?

Thanks so much!

Victoria

[jkid]

you2-san,
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji Specifically, have a look at the "Readings" section.

[you2]

Thanks, jkid. The wikipedia article is very helpful. I have a follow-up question:

Some of the readings on the flashcards on this site are followed by a dot, and then some kana characters. Is that what is called "Okurigana"?

Thanks again,

[Psy]

Yes, it is. Specifically, it is the kana that belongs to a word that isn't part of the kanji, e.g. in 覚える the okurigana is 「える」.

[gerald_ford]

That's right. The word in question is either going to be a adjective or verb usually. Some nouns have that too, but it's much less common. I usually think of it as the part of the word that will conjugate or change depending on tense and such. The part of the word that is the kanji never changes, so it's kind of like the "root" of the word.

Hope that helps!