漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons
年: year, counter for years
丿 and 干 carry the meaning
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Shang Today
Oracle bone and bronze: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Two readings, and the words that use each
ネンnen · on'yomi · in compounds
- 一年生いちねんせいfirst-year student
- 去年きょねんlast year
- 来年らいねんnext year
- 中年ちゅうねんmiddle age
- 万年筆まんねんひつfountain pen
としtoshi · kun'yomi · on its own
- お年寄りおとしよりelderly person
- 年上としうえolder
- 半年はんとしhalf a year
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 今年ことしthis year
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)禾 wheat; grain (meaning) + 人 (sound)
Originally meaning "harvest", it later came to mean "year". In the oracle bone script and early bronze inscriptions, it was originally written like 秂.
Source: Wiktionary, 年 (rev. 92694779), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Stand your ground! This radical carries the energy of the protective shield and the clear, intense heat of the drying sun.”
Connections
Also read ネン
8 kanji share this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · nián
Same form: 年 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 年 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 年 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin nián most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.