Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Structures & Home

聞: hear, ask

Also: listen

JLPT N514 strokesGrade 2Your ink: 白 Not met

耳 carries the meaning · 門 gives the sound

14 strokes

Four readings, and the words that use each

ブンbun · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 新聞しんぶんnewspaper
  • 見聞けんぶんinformation; experience; knowledge

モンmon · on'yomi

  • 前代未聞ぜんだいみもんunheard-of
  • 聴聞ちょうもんlistening; hearing

きくkiku · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 聞くきくlisten, hear, ask a question [v.t.]
  • 聞き手ききてlistener
  • 聞かすきかすto let (someone) hear

きこえるkikoeru · kun'yomi

  • 聞こえるきこえるcan be heard, hear [v.i.]

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

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)門 (sound) + 耳 ear (meaning)

Source: Wiktionary, 聞 (rev. 94593147), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Gate (門) + ear = imagine putting your ear against a heavy wooden gate to hear the secrets being whispered on the other side.”
From the 耳 ear story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
門

Also built on gate (門)

All 11

聞 takes the 門 family's reading, モン (mon).

耳

Also built on ear (耳)

All 9

Also read ブン

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read モン

4 kanji share this on'yomi
In ChineseSimplified 闻 · traditional, as in Japanese · wén

Japan keeps the traditional form 聞; mainland China simplifies it to 闻.

Simplified
闻 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
聞 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin wén most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

One click tells us. No sign-up.