漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
谷: valley
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Western Zhou Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Two readings, and the words that use each
コクkoku · on'yomi · in compounds
- 渓谷けいこくvalley, ravine, canyon
- 峡谷きょうこくglen, ravine, gorge, canyon
たにtani · kun'yomi · on its own
- 谷たにvalley
- 谷川たにがわvalley river
- 谷間たにまravine, chasm, dell, valley
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 渋谷しぶやShibuya City (special ward of Tokyo)
Also read きわまる, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0 · JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
Valley (口) in between two mountain walls represented by near-parallel lines. The original version is 𠔌.
Source: Wiktionary, 谷 (rev. 93569448), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The base kanji for a valley or mountain stream, a symbol of the natural beauty and the geological "low points" of the world.”
Connections
谷 gives its sound to
The family reading is ヨウ (you). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
Also read コク
10 kanji share this on'yomiIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · gǔ
Same form: 谷 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 谷 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 谷 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin gǔ most common reading
False friend. In simplified Chinese, 谷 also stands for 穀 (cereals, grain), which Japanese writes as a separate kanji.
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.