Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Textiles, Plants & Food

芽: bud, sprout

Also: spear, germ

JLPT N18 strokesGrade 4Your ink: 白 Not met

艹 carries the meaning · 牙 gives the sound

8 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ガga · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 麦芽ばくがmalt
  • 胚芽はいがembryo bud, germ
  • 発芽するはつがするgerminate, sprout [v.i.]

めme · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 芽めsprout [n.]
  • 新芽しんめbud, shoot [n.]
  • 芽生えるめばえるbud, sprout [v.i.]

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Grass growing on top! Like a green crown upon the earth, this radical sits above kanji related to flowers, herbs, and vegetation.”
More in the 艹 grass story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
艹

Also built on grass (艹)

All 74
牙

Also built on tusk (牙)

芽 takes the 牙 family's reading, ガ (ga).

Also read ガ

9 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
芽 bud · 艹
vs冴 be clear · 冫
芽 has 艹 where 冴 has 冫.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yá

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

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

Pinyin yá 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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