Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

哀: pathetic, grief

Also: sorrow, pathos, pity, sympathize

JLPT N19 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

口 carries the meaning · 衣 gives the sound

9 strokes

Three readings, and the words that use each

アイai · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 哀悼あいとうcondolence; regret; tribute
  • 悲哀ひあいsorrow; grief; sadness
  • 哀愁あいしゅうpathos; sorrow; grief

あわれaware · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 哀れあわれpity; sorrow; grief

あわれむawaremu · kun'yomi

  • 哀れむあわれむto pity; to feel sympathy for

Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.

  • 可哀相かわいそうpoor; pitiable; pathetic

Also read かなしい, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Open your mouth wide and what do you see? A simple, sturdy square!”
More in the 口 mouth story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
衣

Also built on clothes (衣)

All 17

The 衣 family reads イ (i); 哀 is read アイ.

口

Also built on mouth (口)

All 108

Also read アイ

4 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
哀 pathetic
vs衰 decline
Same parts, arranged differently.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · āi

Same form: 哀 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
哀 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
哀 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin āi most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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