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Grammar detail: 当て字・熟字訓・義訓
当て字・熟字訓・義訓 ateji, jukujikun and gikun
654 words
My current mastery of this grammar point:
あ
当
てじ
字
, じゅくじくん
熟字訓
and ぎくん
義君
are related but subtly different concepts that all stem from the fact that Japanese as a language existed independently of the kanji-based writing system imported from China.- あ当てじ字(ateji) refers to the use of kanji phonetically to represent words they are etymologically unrelated to. It was a very common way to import words from foreign languages into Japanese before the advent of katakana (and is still common in China). The term ateji refers to the kanji characters used.
- じゅくじくん熟字訓(jukujikun) refers to the use of a (typically native) Japanese word as the reading of a kanji word, without regard to the usual readings of those kanji. The term jukujikun refers to the reading - the readings for jukujikun words are the common readings for these particular words.
- ぎくん義訓(gikun) refers to the use of an irregular reading for a kanji word. Examples of gikun may at times be considered to be errors, although they commonly appear in a variety of texts, particularly creative pieces, such as stories, poetry and song lyrics. It is unlikely that they will be found in academic or other such formal texts. As with jukujikun, the term gikun refers to the reading.
Examples
Ateji
- One of the most common ateji is すし寿司, meaning sushi (i.e. the food comprising rice and raw fish). In fact 寿 means 'longevity' and 司 means 'administer', so the expression leads to an interesting implied underlying meaning - sushi administers longevity! Interestingly, however, this term is in such common use in Japan that most Japanese do not consider it to be ateji.
- Another very common ateji is コーヒー珈琲, coffee. Although this character combination is falling out of use, it's still commonly seen in the names of traditional coffee shops. In fact the characters used mean 'hairpin' and 'string of pearls' (search)!
- Ateji are very commonly used for country names. For example, originally America was represented in Japanese as あめりか亜米利加. As here, the characters are chosen for their common readings, independently of meanings. (American doesn't really have anything to do with 'adding effective Asian rice' ...) In modern Japanese, these ateji are no longer commonly used - the name would be spelled phonetically with katakana instead (eg アメリカ).
Jukujikun
- One of the most common jukujikun is つゆ梅雨, meaning tsuyu (i.e. the rainy season, or the 'fifth season' in Japan). つゆ is the Japanese word, but it is used as the standard reading of the character combination 梅雨, which originated in Chinese. 梅 means 'plum' (the fruit); 雨 means 'rain'. So this is an evocative way to describe the heavy rain of the tsuyu - plum-sized raindrops!
- Another common (and eminently sensible) jukujikun is たばこ煙草, which uses the characters for 'smoke' and 'grass'.
- Another very common jukujikun is かわい可愛い, meaning cute. In this case the implied meaning is good (可) love (愛).
- One of the best examples of jukujikun is おとな大人. In this case the expected reading of the kanji would be 'だいじん', which is a word (but with a slightly different meaning). However, the characters are also used to write おとな, so when reading, the context is required to determine how to pronounce them.
- Another common jukujikun is いなか田舎, countryside. This is a common Japanese word, applied to the characters for 'field' and 'dwelling'. (Note that いなか is a term that can be considered offensive depending on the context, in the same sort of way that 'provincial' could be seen as subtly derogatory in English.)
- きょう今日is another common jukujikun. The Japanese word 'きょう' meaning 'today' is assigned to the characters 'now' and 'day', which makes great sense from a meaning standpoint.
Gikun
- An example of gikun is the reading からだ for 身体. The expected reading of 身体, しんたい, exists separately, and with largely the same meaning. The 'correct' kanji form of からだ is 体.
More information / references
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ateji ⇗
- http://www16.atpages.jp/kanjikentei/jukujikun.html ⇗
Words used in this grammar
noun
1. rainy season (in Japan from early June to mid-July)2. rain during the rainy season
(click the word to view an additional 1 reading and 3 forms, useful expressions, examples and links)
Most common form: かわいい
2. dear; precious; darling; pet (often written with kana only)
(click the word to view an additional 1 reading, 1 meaning and 4 forms, examples and links)
noun, 'no' adjective
adult(click the word to view an additional 1 reading and 2 forms, examples and links)
noun
1. man of substance or virtue; gentleman2. giant
(click the word to view an additional 1 meaning, examples and links)
noun
2. torso; trunk(click the word to view an additional 3 meanings and 4 forms, examples and links)
Kanji used in this grammar
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