Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

永: eternity, long

Also: lengthy

JLPT N25 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

丶 and 水 carry the meaning

5 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

エイei · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 永遠えいえんeternity, permanence
  • 永久えいきゅうeternity, permanence
  • 永眠するえいみんするsleep eternally, pass away
  • 永住するえいじゅうするreside permanently
  • 永続するえいぞくするcontinue for a long time

ながいnagai · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 永いながいlong, lengthy
  • 永年ながねんlong time, many years
  • 末永くすえながくforever

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“See the river flowing before you! The strong central line is the deep, powerful current, while the smaller strokes on the sides are the splashes of water hitting rocks in the stream.”
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered

永 gives its sound to

The family reading is エイ (ei). Sound parts: KanjiVG.

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
永 eternity
vs氷 icicle
Same parts, arranged differently.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yǒng

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

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

Pinyin yǒng 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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