漢字Kanji · in Communication & Thought
音: sound, noise
立 and 日 are drawn in
Bronze · Spring and Autumn Small seal · Qin Today
Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Five readings, and the words that use each
オンon · on'yomi · in compounds
- 発音するはつおんするpronounce
- 録音するろくおんするrecord
- 音楽おんがくmusic
- 音読みおんよみon (Chinese) reading of kanji
インin · on'yomi
- 母音ぼいんvowel
- 子音しいんconsonant
-ノン-non · on'yomi
- 観音様かんのんさまKannon, Goddess of Mercy
おとoto · kun'yomi · on its own
- 音おとsound
- 足音あしおとfootsteps (sound)
ねne · kun'yomi
- 音色ねいろtone
- 本音ほんねreal intention
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogram (指事)
Based on the structure of 言, with an additional short horizontal stroke inside the 口 (“mouth”), forming a shape similar to 甘. The Shuowen Jiezi describes the structure as 从言含一 ("from 言 containing 一").
Source: Wiktionary, 音 (rev. 92736633), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Stand (立) + sun/mouth (日). Imagine a sound that "stands" alone in the air, or the "mouth" producing a tone that carries across a distance—the essence of music.”
Connections
Also read オン
9 kanji share this on'yomiIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yīn
Same form: 音 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 音 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 音 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin yīn most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.