Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Textiles, Plants & Food

絃: string, cord

Also: samisen music

JLPT N111 strokesName kanji (jinmeiyō)Your ink: 白 Not met

糸 carries the meaning · 玄 is drawn in

11 strokes

One reading, and the words that use it

ゲンgen · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 管絃かんげんwind and string instruments; music
  • 絃楽げんがくmusic for strings; string music

Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.

  • 絃つるbowstring

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

成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Everything is connected! This radical represents the invisible threads that tie us together—our relationships, the fine "silk" of our words, and the intricate weaving of our personal histories.”
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
絃 string · 玄
vs紋 family crest · 文
絃 has 玄 where 紋 has 文.
In ChineseSimplified 弦 · traditional, as in Japanese · xián

Japan keeps the traditional form 絃; mainland China simplifies it to 弦.

Simplified
弦 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
絃 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin xián 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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