漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People
指: finger, point to
Also: indicate, put into, play (chess), measure (ruler)
JLPT N39 strokesGrade 3Your ink: 白 Not met
扌 carries the meaning · 旨 gives the sound
9 strokes
Bronze · Zhou Today
Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Three readings, and the words that use each
シshi · on'yomi · in compounds
- 指紋しもんfingerprint
- 指令しれいorders
- 指揮者しきしゃ(orchestral) conductor
- 指定席していせきreserved seat
- 指定するしていするspecify
- 指示するしじするinstruct
- 指摘するしてきするpoint out
- 指導するしどうするguide, lead, coach [v.t.]
ゆびyubi · kun'yomi · on its own
- 指ゆびfinger [n.]
- 指輪ゆびわring
- 親指おやゆびthumb
さすsasu · kun'yomi
- 指すさすpoint at
Also read -さし, 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)手, as 扌 (meaning) + 旨 (sound)
Source: Wiktionary, 指 (rev. 92536843), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Imagine a hand reaching out from the left to grab, hold, or shape the world! When you see these three strokes, think of a hand in motion.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side指 finger · 旨
vs押 push · 甲In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · zhǐ
Same form: 指 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 指 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 指 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin zhǐ 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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