Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

墨: black ink, India ink

Also: ink stick, Mexico

JLPT N114 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

土 carries the meaning · 黒 gives the sound

14 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ボクboku · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 墨書ぼくしょwriting in India ink
  • 水墨画すいぼくがIndia-ink painting; ink wash painting

すみsumi · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 墨すみsumi; India ink; Chinese ink
  • 入れ墨いれずみtattoo (esp. a traditional Japanese one)
  • お墨付きおすみつきcertificate; certified document
  • 墨絵すみえink painting

Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)黑 (sound) + 土 soil (meaning)

Source: Wiktionary, 墨 (rev. 92930320), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Black (黒) + earth (土). The specific "black" material made from "earth-like" soot and bound with glue to create traditional calligraphy "ink."”
From the 黒 black story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
黒

Also built on black (黒)

All 2

墨 takes the 黒 family's reading, ボク (boku).

土

Also built on earth (土)

All 61

Also read ボク

8 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
墨 black ink · 土
vs黙 silence · 犬
墨 has 土 where 黙 has 犬.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · mò

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

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

Pinyin mò 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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