Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

髪: hair of the head

JLPT N314 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

髟 carries the meaning · 友 gives the sound

14 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ハツhatsu · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 頭髪とうはつhair (on the head)
  • 毛髪もうはつhair
  • 白髪はくはつwhite hair, grey hair
  • 金髪きんぱつblond hair
  • 間一髪かんいっぱつhair's breadth
  • 散髪するさんぱつするget a haircut
  • 洗髪するせんぱつするwash one's hair

かみkami · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 髪かみhair (on the head)
  • 髪の毛かみのけhair (on the head)
  • 日本髪にほんがみJapanese coiffure

Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.

  • 白髪しらがwhite hair, grey hair

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)髟 long hair (meaning) + 犮 (sound)

Source: Wiktionary, 髮 (rev. 93384216), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Long hair top (髟) + hand/friend (友) + hair (彡). The literal definition of the flowing "long hair" that grows upon a human head.”
From the 髟 long hair story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
友

Also built on friend (友)

髪 takes the 友 family's reading, ハツ (hatsu).

Also read ハツ

6 kanji share this on'yomi
In ChineseSimplified 发 · traditional 髮 · fā

Three different forms: Japanese 髪, simplified 发, traditional 髮.

Simplified
发 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
髮 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin fā 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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