Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons

幹: tree trunk, main part

Also: talent, capability

JLPT N113 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

𠦝 and 人 carry the meaning · 干 carries meaning and sound

13 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

カンkan · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 幹事かんじparty coordinator
  • 幹部かんぶexecutive, leader
  • 幹線道路かんせんどうろmain road, main thoroughfare
  • 根幹こんかんbasis, nucleus, root and branch
  • 主幹しゅかんchief editor
  • 新幹線しんかんせんbullet train , Shinkansen

みきmiki · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 幹みき(tree) trunk

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)倝 (sound) + 木 tree (meaning)

Originally 榦, a phono-semantic compound (形聲): phonetic 倝 + semantic 木 (“tree”). The semantic 木 was replaced with a phonetic 干, making both components phonetic.

Source: Wiktionary, 幹 (rev. 92518516), 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.”
More in the 干 dry story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
𠦝

Also built on 𠦝

人

Also built on person (人)

All 21
干

Also built on dry (干)

All 9

幹 takes the 干 family's reading, カン (kan).

Also read カン

51 kanji share this on'yomiAll 51

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
幹 tree trunk · 人 + 干
vs朝 morning · 月
幹 has 人 + 干 where 朝 has 月.
In ChineseSimplified 干 · traditional, as in Japanese · gàn

Japan keeps the traditional form 幹; mainland China simplifies it to 干.

Simplified
干 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
幹 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin gàn 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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