Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons

矢: dart, arrow

JLPT N15 strokesGrade 2Your ink: 白 Not met
5 strokes
  • Oracle bone · Shang
  • Bronze · Western Zhou
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

シshi · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 一矢いっしan arrow, a retort

やya · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 矢やarrow
  • 矢印やじるしdirectional arrow
  • 矢先やさきarrowhead, brunt, target
  • 弓矢ゆみやbow and arrow
  • 無理矢理むりやりforcibly; by force; against one's will

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0 · JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Pictogram (象形)

An arrow. More recognizable in older forms.

Source: Wiktionary, 矢 (rev. 93764048), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“The base kanji for an arrow, a symbol of directness and traditional weaponry used in battle and hunting.”
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
天

Also built on heavens (天)

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
矢 dart · 天
vs失 lose · 丿 + 夫
矢 has 天 where 失 has 丿 + 夫.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shǐ

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

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

Pinyin shǐ 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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