Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Animals & Wildlife

象: elephant, pattern after

Also: imitate, image, shape, sign (of the times)

JLPT N212 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

豕 carries the meaning · 𠂊 is drawn in

12 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ショウshou · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 印象いんしょうimpression
  • 対象たいしょうtarget, object, subject
  • 現象げんしょうphenomenon
  • 気象きしょうclimate
  • 抽象的ちゅうしょうてきabstract
  • 象徴するしょうちょうするsymbolize
  • 象形文字しょうけいもじhieroglyph

ゾウzou · on'yomi

  • 象ぞうelephant
  • 象牙ぞうげivory

Also read かたどる, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Pictogram (象形)

Pictographic representation of an elephant. ⺈ represents the trunk, 𫩏 represents the head, and 𧰨 represents the body.

Source: Wiktionary, 象 (rev. 94591952), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Oink! This radical is all about the sturdy, valuable animals that have lived alongside humans for thousands of years.”
More in the 豕 pig story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
𠂊

Also built on to wrap (𠂊)

All 12
豕

Also built on pig (豕)

All 9

象 gives its sound to

The family reading is ゾウ (zou). Sound parts: KanjiVG.

Also read ショウ

90 kanji share this on'yomiAll 90

Also read ゾウ

11 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
象 elephant · 𠂊 + 豕
vs像 statue · 亻 + 象
象 has 𠂊 + 豕 where 像 has 亻 + 象.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · xiàng

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

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

Pinyin xiàng 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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