漢字Kanji · in Time & Sequence
南: south
十 carries the meaning · 冂 and 干 are drawn in
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Western Zhou Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Two readings, and the words that use each
ナンnan · on'yomi · in compounds
- 南極なんきょくsouth pole
- 南北なんぼくsouth and north
- 南部なんぶsouthern part
- 東南アジアとうなんアジアSoutheast Asia
みなみminami · kun'yomi · on its own
- 南みなみsouth
- 南半球みなみはんきゅうsouthern hemisphere
Also read ナ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Other
The oracle-bone form depicts a lidded 同 (“tube; cylindrical vessel”). Some forms contain strokes inside the vessel, probably representing its contents.
Source: Wiktionary, 南 (rev. 93739580), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Ten (十) + a canopy/borders shape. Historically associated with the direction of the "full" sun and the "complete" warmth of the southern sky.”
Connections
Also read ナン
5 kanji share this on'yomiAlso read ナ
3 kanji share this on'yomiIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · nán
Same form: 南 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 南 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 南 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin nán most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.