漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
零: zero, spill
Also: overflow, nothing, cipher
JLPT N213 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met
雨 carries the meaning · 令 gives the sound
13 strokes
One reading, and the words that use it
レイrei · on'yomi · in compounds
- 零れいzero, nought
- 零度れいどzero degree
- 零下れいかbelow zero
- 零時れいじtwelve o'clock
- 零点れいてんzero point, no marks
- 零細企業れいさいきぎょうsmall business
Also read ぜろ, こぼす, こぼれる, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)雨 rain (meaning) + 令 (sound)
On the oracle bone script, only thick raindrops are depicted falling from the sky.
Source: Wiktionary, 零 (rev. 92509134), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Rain radical + decree/command (令) = small droplets falling one by one, eventually representing 'zero' or small remnants.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
令
Also built on orders (令)
零 takes the 令 family's reading, レイ (rei).
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side零 zero · 令
vs雰 atmosphere · 分In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · líng
Same form: 零 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 零 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 零 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin líng 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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