漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement
起: rouse, wake up
Also: get up
走 carries the meaning · 己 gives the sound
Small seal · Qin Today
Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Three readings, and the words that use each
キki · on'yomi · in compounds
- 起床するきしょうするget out of bed
- 提起するていきするraise (a question/demand)
- 起訴するきそするprosecute
おきるokiru · kun'yomi · on its own
- 起きるおきるget up, happen [v.i.]
- 早起きするはやおきするwake up early
おこすokosu · kun'yomi
- 起こすおこすwake someone, cause [v.t.]
Also read おこる, おこす, たつ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)走 (meaning) + 巳 (sound)
Source: Wiktionary, 起 (rev. 92737700), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Run radical + snake/self (巳) = imagine a snake or a person suddenly 'running' up from the ground into an upright, active position.”
Connections
起 takes the 己 family's reading, キ (ki).
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · qǐ
Same form: 起 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 起 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 起 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin qǐ most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.