Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement

差: distinction, difference

Also: variation, discrepancy, margin, balance

JLPT N310 strokesGrade 4Your ink: 白 Not met

羊 carries the meaning · 左 gives the sound

10 strokes

Three readings, and the words that use each

サsa · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 差さdifference, variation
  • 差額さがくbalance, difference, margin
  • 大差たいさgreat difference
  • 時差じさtime difference
  • 個人差こじんさpersonal differences
  • 交差点こうさてん(street) intersection
  • 差別するさべつするdiscriminate

さすsasu · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 差すさすraise (hand, umbrella)

さしsashi · kun'yomi

  • 差し当たりさしあたりfor the time being, at present
  • 差し支えさしつかえhindrance, impediment

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Ideogrammic compound (會意)來 wheat + 𠂇 left hand

To hull wheat by rubbing grains inside hands. Original form of 搓 (“to rub with hands; to scrub; to twist”).

Source: Wiktionary, 差 (rev. 93935023), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Plant/branch + work/tool (工). Originally suggested the "work" of separating plants, eventually evolving to mean the "gap" or "difference" between two things.”
From the 工 work story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
羊

Also built on sheep (羊)

All 16
左

Also built on left (左)

差 takes the 左 family's reading, サ (sa).

Also read サ

16 kanji share this on'yomiAll 16

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
差 distinction · 左
vs羞 feel ashamed · 丿 + 丑
差 has 左 where 羞 has 丿 + 丑.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · chà, chā

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

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

Pinyin chà, chā most common readings

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

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