Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Structures & Home

座: squat, seat

Also: cushion, gathering, sit

JLPT N310 strokesGrade 6Your ink: 白 Not met

广 carries the meaning · 坐 gives the sound

10 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ザza · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 座席ざせきseat
  • 座敷ざしきtatami room
  • 座禅ざぜんmeditation
  • 座談会ざだんかいsymposium, round-table
  • 座右の書ざゆうのしょone's bedside book
  • 星座せいざconstellation
  • 王座おうざthrone
  • 銀座ぎんざsilver mint, Ginza (place name)
  • 講座こうざcourse (of lectures)
  • 銀行口座ぎんこうこうざbank account

すわるsuwaru · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 座るすわるsit, squat

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)广 house on cliff (meaning) + 坐 (sound)

Source: Wiktionary, 座 (rev. 93448635), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Build on the hillside! This radical represents practical buildings that provide shelter while leaning directly into the landscape.”
More in the 广 slant roof story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
广

Also built on slant roof (广)

All 25
坐

Also built on 坐

Also read ザ

1 kanji shares this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
座 squat · 广
vs挫 crush · 扌
座 has 广 where 挫 has 扌.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · zuò

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

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

Pinyin zuò 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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