Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement

訳: translate, reason

Also: circumstance, case

JLPT N111 strokesGrade 6Your ink: 白 Not met

言 carries the meaning · 尺 gives the sound

11 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ヤクyaku · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 訳やくtranslation
  • 訳者やくしゃtranslator
  • 訳すやくすtranslate
  • 通訳するつうやくするtranslate (speech)
  • 翻訳するほんやくするtranslate (text)

わけwake · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 訳わけreason
  • 言い訳いいわけexcuse [n.]
  • 申し訳ないもうしわけないinexcusable

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

“Words flowing from the heart and into the world! The lines radiating upward show the power of the voice as it leaves the mouth.”
More in the 言 speech story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
言

Also built on speech (言)

All 72
尺

Also built on shaku (尺)

The 尺 family reads シャク (shaku); 訳 is read ヤク.

Also read ヤク

8 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
訳 translate · 尺
vs訟 sue · 公
訳 has 尺 where 訟 has 公.
In ChineseSimplified 译 · traditional 譯 · yì

Three different forms: Japanese 訳, simplified 译, traditional 譯.

Simplified
译 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
譯 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin yì 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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