漢字Kanji · in Time & Sequence
八: eight, eight radical (no. 12)
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Shang Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Four readings, and the words that use each
ハチhachi · on'yomi · in compounds
- 八月はちがつAugust
- 八時間はちじかん8 hours
- 尺八しゃくはちbamboo flute
- 八回はっかい8 times
- 八分はっぷん8 minutes
- 八百はっぴゃく800
やya · kun'yomi · on its own
- 八重桜やえざくらdouble-flowered cherry-tree
やっつyattsu · kun'yomi
- 八つやっつ8 (objects)
ようyou · kun'yomi
- 八日ようか8 days, 8th of the month
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 八百屋やおやgreengrocer
Also read ハツ, やつ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
Two bent lines indicating the original meaning of "to divide". This character is later borrowed to mean "eight" because of homonymy, making the original meaning obsolete (now represented by 分 and 別).
Source: Wiktionary, 八 (rev. 92707648), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The base kanji for the number eight, representing the point where counting takes a distinct turn.”
Connections
Also read ハチ
1 kanji shares this on'yomiAlso read ハツ
6 kanji share this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · bā
Same form: 八 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 八 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 八 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin bā most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.