Learn how to write and read the kanji 月
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| ひろこです (Hiroko desu.) |
| Hiroko here. |
| Welcome to japanesepod101.com kanji corner brought to you by japanesepod101.com, start speaking Japanese in minutes. Get your free lifetime account at japanesepod101.com, it’s a grove. |
| Lesson 7. |
| Over the Moon Kanji. |
| You’ve learned the kanji that means sun. |
| Now it’s time to learn the kanji meaning Moon. |
| It’s easy because it’s shaped like a crescent moon. |
| Now let’s draw this kanji. |
| This kanji means moon and we’re going to have a trick for memorizing this kanji in just a minute but let’s first look at the reading. |
| Remember, there are two readings in kanji? The one is On reading and the other one is Kun reading. 音読み (on'yomi) the On readings come from Chinese and the Kun reading comes from Japanese. |
| The On reading for this kanji is ゲツ (getsu) and ガツ (gatsu) and the Kun reading for this kanji is つき (tsuki). |
| Now remember the trick that I was telling you about? Let’s look at that now. I need the green pen again. |
| You see how it looks like a crescent moon. Actually it kind of looks like a banana. So let me draw it again. It used to be like this and then it became straight but it still looks like a crescent moon. |
| Now let’s look at how to draw this kanji. Pay attention to the stroke order, it’s very important. Start from left top, 1, 2, 3, 4. Let’s try it again. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Got it? |
| Now let’s look at the sample sentences and sample words. |
| Ta-dah! |
| The On reading for this kanji is gatsu and getsu. First one we have gatsu いちがつ (ichi-gatsu) which means January. Next we have getsu げつようび (getsu-yōbi) which means Monday. The trick for memorizing this is つき (tsuki) moon and day. Remember we learned this last time? So moon and day, Monday. |
| Next we have Kun reading. The Kun reading for this kanji is tsuki. Here we have つきみ (tsukimi) which means moon viewing. |
| Get the lesson notes for this kanji lesson at japanesepod101.com, visit us at japanesepod101.com and sign up for your free lifetime account and start speaking Japanese in minutes. |
| Thank you for watching ありがとうございました (Arigatō gozaimashita.) |
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Comments
Hideみなさん、こんにちは！ How was this video lesson? Can you think of any other words that contain 月？
Anirudhさん
Thank you so much for your comment😄
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
Andrew さん、
こんにちは。
Yes, the び comes from ひ.
Because of the pronunciation び is used here.
It should be easier to pronounce nichiyoubi rather than nichiyouhi
?
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
Oh i see, its a sound change to make it easier to pronounce, but...
I have to write / pronounce it like げつよひ or げつようび? and if so, it applies to all sound changes in readings or is it optional?
Whoops, i forgot the question mark and misspelled 月 (げつ in this case)
こんにちは!
I have a question, in the video (minute 2:58) hiroko says 月よう日 (がつようび) she reads the kanji 日 as び, but according to lesson 5 of this series, 日 readings are ジツ, ニチ (On reading) and か, ひ (Kun reading).
Is び another On/Kun reading of 日
Asa-san,
konnichiwa!
Sorry for the late reply!!
Sound changes occur to make it easy to pronounce. It's something like English word 'have' for instance.
You don't pronounce V as [v] when it's used as 'have to', right? It becomes [f].
Hope this helps!
Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
Hello there! I have this doubt. How does the sound change in the sun kanji from 'hi' to 'bi'?
I've also noticed this in a few words like "Senbonzakura" (which is a fairly popular song) but it's written as sen hon sakura
Thanks!
Israel-san
Thank you for your comment!
You have a good question! but sometimes even it's hard for native Japanese speakers to figure out kun/on-readnig.
However, basically when you have compounds of more than one kanji, the on-reading tends to be used.
In this lesson, 'tsukimi' is an exception. :)
This lesson will be helpful;
Absolute Beginner Questions Answered by Hiroko Lesson 23. ON or KUN reading?
https://www.japanesepod101.com/2016/04/19/absolute-beginner-questions-answered-by-hiroko-23-on-or-kun-reading/
Hope this helps,
Motoko
Team JapanesePod101.com
How do we know when is the right moment to use the ON reading or the Kun reading?? I'm a beginner so I don't know when I have to use the On and the Kun reading.
antonio dell'utri san,
konnichiwa.
You are welcome. :smile:
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
Thanks for all of your videos, Hiroko!
Ramkrishna Shekhar
Konnichiwa.
Thank you for the comment.
Croc san,
Konnichiwa.
We have a rule.
When you have compound kanji which has more than two kanjis, on-reading should be used, for example, 新聞 (Shinbun) which means ‘newspaper.’
On the other hand when you have kanji with hiragana (okurigana), kun-reading should be used for example, 聞く(Ki-ku) which means ‘listen.’
:smile:
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
明日 － Tomorrow
PS : I like the videos ! Keep coming!
when will i learn which reading to use when?
John-san,
konnichiwa!
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge!!:smile: That is an amazing analysis!:thumbsup:
It seems mostly those you wrote it right. There are always exceptions, so that's the only thing
I'd probably add. :wink:
(For instance, the noun 缶 meaning 'tin' or 'can' is read as 'kan' and this is on-yomi.)
Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
Since Gregory asked about that, I should say I was studying kanjis since two months ago (I already know 420 kanjis) and I noticed the On'yomi usually is used when the kanji is used in words with other kanjis while Kun'yomi is more common when the kanji is alone as a single word (but of course there are many exceptions too, like many numberal kanjis).
For example:
月 (tsuki) = moon; 水 (mizu) = water; 上 (ue) = above; 下 (shita) = down; 木 (ki) = tree, wood; 犬 (inu) = dog; 穴 (ana) = hole, cave; 糸 (ito) = thread; 目 (me) = eye; 猫 (neko) = cat...
All them are in Kun'yomi (I can make a very longer list about this, but I cannot write it here). Also, the pronounciation for verbs and adjectives NEVER use the On'yomi.
Considering this, I can say the Kun'yomi pronounciation has 3 uses:
1) Single or compound words: this pronounciation can be used when the kanji is alone or with other kanjs. It's never used for verbs or i-adjectives (adjectives finished with "i" sound).
2) Verbs: this pronounciation is just used for verbs. You can recognize them because they have a part written in hiragana and finish with the -u sound.
3) I-adjectives: this pronounciation is just used for i-adjectives. You can recognize them because they have a part written in hiragana and finish with the -i sound.
For example:
0) 早 [SŌ]: On'yomi pronounciation. Is used in words with other kanjis, like 早晩 [souban] = eventually.
1) 早 [haya]: Kun'yomi pronounciation. Is used as a single word ( 早 [haya] = already, now ) or in words with other kanjis like 早口 [hayakuchi] = Fast-talking.
2) 早める [haya.meru]: Kun'yomi pronounciation used for verbs. This word means "to hasten" or "to quicken".
3) 早い [haya.i]: Kun'yomi pronounciation used for i-adjectives. This word means "early".
* I picked the meanings from an online dictionary, but many words there are obsolete or never used, so I don't know if "haya" and "hayakuchi" are common words.
I don't know if there is a lesson about this, but I think is an useful tip. Corect me if there is something wrong.
ディエゴ san,
こんにちは。
月見 literally moon-viewing, also known as Jugoya (十五夜), refers to Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon, a version of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Global Dumplings look like the moon and Japanese pampas grass are often displayed.
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
こんにちわ。
I wonder what 月見 is exactly referring to. Is it some kind of celebration or something?
ありがとうございます。
Gregory san,
Konnichiawa.
I have to say both or it depends on the kanji. :disappointed:
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
What is more common Kun or On reading?