漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement
街: boulevard, street
Also: town
JLPT N112 strokesGrade 4Your ink: 白 Not met
行 carries the meaning · 圭 gives the sound
12 strokes
Three readings, and the words that use each
ガイgai · on'yomi · in compounds
- 街灯がいとうstreet light
- 街路樹がいろじゅroadside trees
- 繁華街はんかがいbustling street
- 住宅街じゅうたくがいresidential area
- 商店街しょうてんがいshopping district
- 地下街ちかがいunderground shopping center
カイkai · on'yomi
- 街道かいどうhighway
まちmachi · kun'yomi · on its own
- 街まちstreet, town
- 街角まちかどstreet corner
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)行 (meaning) + 圭 (sound)
Source: Wiktionary, 街 (rev. 91428245), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Crossroads (行) + earth/mound (圭). A place where paths intersect on the earth—representing the busy "streets" and "blocks" of a bustling city.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
圭
Also built on square jewel (圭)
The 圭 sound family doesn't share one reading.
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side街 boulevard · 行
vs桂 Japanese Judas-tree · 木In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · jiē
Same form: 街 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 街 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 街 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin jiē 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.