Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

暁: daybreak, dawn

Also: in the event

JLPT N112 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

日 carries the meaning · 尭 gives the sound

12 strokes
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

ギョウgyou · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 暁星ぎょうせいmorning star; Venus; rarity
  • 暁天ぎょうてんdawn

あかつきakatsuki · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 暁あかつきdawn; daybreak

Also read キョウ, さとる, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
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成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“The life-giving sun in the sky! This simple box was once a perfect circle, representing the regular rising and setting of the sun that marks the rhythm of our lives.”
More in the 日 sun story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
日

Also built on sun (日)

All 70
尭

Also built on high (尭)

暁 takes the 尭 family's reading, ギョウ (gyou).

Also read ギョウ

6 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read キョウ

47 kanji share this on'yomiAll 47

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
暁 daybreak · 日
vs焼 bake · 火
暁 has 日 where 焼 has 火.
In ChineseSimplified 晓 · traditional 曉 · xiǎo

Three different forms: Japanese 暁, simplified 晓, traditional 曉.

Simplified
晓 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
曉 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin xiǎo 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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