漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People
性: sex, gender
Also: nature
JLPT N38 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met
忄 carries the meaning · 生 gives the sound
8 strokes
Two readings, and the words that use each
セイsei · on'yomi · in compounds
- 性格せいかくpersonality
- 性質せいしつnature, disposition
- 性能せいのうability
- 性別せいべつgender
- 個性こせいindividuality
- 人間性にんげんせいhumanity
- 可能性かのうせいpotentiality, possibility
- 性急なせいきゅうなimpatient
- 性的なせいてきなsexual
ショウshou · on'yomi
- 本性ほんしょうtrue nature
- 根性こんじょうguts
Also read さが, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)心 heart, as 忄 (meaning) + 生 (sound)
Nature, personal quality, hence of the heart.
Source: Wiktionary, 性 (rev. 93778628), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Heart (忄) + life (生). The fundamental "nature" or "disposition" that a person is "born" with in their "heart."”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
性 takes the 生 family's reading, セイ (sei).
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side性 sex · 忄
vs姓 surname · 女In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · xìng
Same form: 性 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 性 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 性 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin xìng 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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