漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
塊: clod, lump
Also: chunk, clot, mass
JLPT N113 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met
土 carries the meaning · 鬼 gives the sound
13 strokes
Small seal · Qin Today
Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Two readings, and the words that use each
カイkai · on'yomi · in compounds
- 団塊だんかいmass; lump; clod
- 金塊きんかいgold nugget; gold bullion; gold bar
- 山塊さんかいmountain mass; massif
かたまりkatamari · kun'yomi · on its own
- 塊かたまりlump; mass; bundle
Also read ケ, つちくれ, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Imagine a cross planted firmly in the ground—that's 土! It shows a stake or a seedling marking the earth, reminding us of farming, construction, and the solid foundation upon which we build our lives and cities.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
鬼
Also built on ghost (鬼)
The 鬼 sound family doesn't share one reading.
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side塊 clod · 土
vs魂 soul · 云In ChineseSimplified 块 · traditional, as in Japanese · kuài
Japan keeps the traditional form 塊; mainland China simplifies it to 块.
- Simplified
- 块 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 塊 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin kuài most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.
One click tells us. No sign-up.