What is the yomikata of 値 in 破格値?


My kanji textbook contains this example text excerpt from a leaflet [1]:

[code]

    各種家具を破格値で！
    
[/code]

I would assume that it would be 「チ」 because 「ハカク」 is an Onyomi-Reading, but I
believe I have heard 「はかくね」before. I could not find it in 大辞林, so could
someone who knows better please enlighten me?

Thank you.

* * *

[1] 第６週２日目 in 佐々木仁子、松本典子：日本語総まとめ N2 漢字。株式会社アスク出版、東京都、2012.




As @ssb demonstrated, `はかくね` is a word and *`はかくち` is not, so `破格値` can only
represent the former. But _why_ is it `ね`? Let's take a closer look!

`破格{はかく}` is a Sino-Japanese word (or 漢語{かんご}), and for this reason it uses
音読{おんよ}み. Since many 漢語 come from Chinese, they generally reflect Chinese word
order rather than Japanese; the same thing is true of 漢語 which were coined in
Japanese, with few exceptions.

In this case, `破格` is a _Verb-Object_ compound, a single word with the verbal
morpheme first. Since verbs come last in Japanese, to put this into Japanese
word order we'd need to turn it around (and mark the object): we get `格を破る`
(meaning 通例、常識を破る). In contrast, *`格値` is not a word and there is no such
relationship between `格` and `値`. Therefore, when we break down this compound,
we break it down like this:

[code]

    　　[ 破格 ] 値
    
[/code]

In general, large compounds can be broken down into one- and two-kanji pieces
in this manner. In this case, the compound as a whole does not form a single
漢語, so your assumption doesn't hold--we don't _need_ to use the _on'yomi_ for
`値`. Compare the following words, where I've put the _on'yomi_ in katakana:

[code]

    　　言い値　　　　　いい **ね**　　　　　　訓-訓
    　　返り値　　　　　かえり **チ**　　　　　訓-音
    　　新値　　　　　　シン **ね**　　　　　　音-訓
    　　数値　　　　　　スウ **チ**　　　　　　音-音
    　　破格値　　　　　ハカク **ね**　　　　　[ 音-音 ] 訓
    　　期待値　　　　　キタイ **チ**　　　　　[ 音-音 ] 音
    
[/code]

As you can see, you can't predict how to read `値` simply by whether the
previous character or compound has an _on_ reading or not. That's not to say
there aren't patterns, but you need to understand the reasoning behind them to
apply them. And after all, there are plenty of mixed compounds in Japanese! So
how do we decide between `ち`, `ね`, or for that matter `あたい`?

**The truth is that these are all different words** , and we can observe
relatively consistent distinctions in their usage and meaning. Their meanings
are close and sometimes even overlapping, which means we can't always
determine with certainty which is correct, and in some contexts more than one
reading might be appropriate. However, most of the time we can figure it out.
There are syntactic considerations (e.g., `あたい` doesn't generally form
compounds) and semantic considerations-- **which word has the most appropriate
meaning?**

Let's simplify a little here and give a pair of customary translations:

[code]

    　　ち　Value
    　　ね　Price
    
[/code]

Compare the following words:

[code]

    　　安値　　　やすね　　　Low **price**
    　　高値　　　たかね　　　High **price**
    　　卸値　　　おろしね　　Wholesale **price**
    　　終値　　　おわりね　　Closing **price**
    　　半値　　　ハンね　　　Half **price**
    　　言い値　　いいね　　　Asking **price**
    　　破格値　　ハカクね　　Absurdly [low] **price**
[/code]

All of these are about the price or cost of some object or commodity, and they
all use `ね`, meaning roughly 値段. Contrast with the following words ending in
`ち`:

[code]

    　　価値　　　カチ　　　　　**Value**
    　　数値　　　スウチ　　　　Numerical **value**
    　　同値　　　ドウチ　　　　Equivalent ("equal **value** ")
    　　経験値　　ケイケンチ　　Experience points [in a video game] ("EXP **value** ")
[/code]

In each of these words, 値 is used to write `ち`, meaning roughly 値打.

Knowing this difference, we can decide `破格` + `値` is probably `はかくね`, since
the focus is on the actual _cost or price_ of the item in question.




As @ssb demonstrated, `はかくね` is a word and *`はかくち` is not, so `破格値` can only
represent the former. But _why_ is it `ね`? Let's take a closer look!

`破格{はかく}` is a Sino-Japanese word (or 漢語{かんご}), and for this reason it uses
音読{おんよ}み. Since many 漢語 come from Chinese, they generally reflect Chinese word
order rather than Japanese; the same thing is true of 漢語 which were coined in
Japanese, with few exceptions.

In this case, `破格` is a _Verb-Object_ compound, a single word with the verbal
morpheme first. Since verbs come last in Japanese, to put this into Japanese
word order we'd need to turn it around (and mark the object): we get `格を破る`
(meaning 通例、常識を破る). In contrast, *`格値` is not a word and there is no such
relationship between `格` and `値`. Therefore, when we break down this compound,
we break it down like this:

[code]

    　　[ 破格 ] 値
    
[/code]

In general, large compounds can be broken down into one- and two-kanji pieces
in this manner. In this case, the compound as a whole does not form a single
漢語, so your assumption doesn't hold--we don't _need_ to use the _on'yomi_ for
`値`. Compare the following words, where I've put the _on'yomi_ in katakana:

[code]

    　　言い値　　　　　いい **ね**　　　　　　訓-訓
    　　返り値　　　　　かえり **チ**　　　　　訓-音
    　　新値　　　　　　シン **ね**　　　　　　音-訓
    　　数値　　　　　　スウ **チ**　　　　　　音-音
    　　破格値　　　　　ハカク **ね**　　　　　[ 音-音 ] 訓
    　　期待値　　　　　キタイ **チ**　　　　　[ 音-音 ] 音
    
[/code]

As you can see, you can't predict how to read `値` simply by whether the
previous character or compound has an _on_ reading or not. That's not to say
there aren't patterns, but you need to understand the reasoning behind them to
apply them. And after all, there are plenty of mixed compounds in Japanese! So
how do we decide between `ち`, `ね`, or for that matter `あたい`?

**The truth is that these are all different words** , and we can observe
relatively consistent distinctions in their usage and meaning. Their meanings
are close and sometimes even overlapping, which means we can't always
determine with certainty which is correct, and in some contexts more than one
reading might be appropriate. However, most of the time we can figure it out.
There are syntactic considerations (e.g., `あたい` doesn't generally form
compounds) and semantic considerations-- **which word has the most appropriate
meaning?**

Let's simplify a little here and give a pair of customary translations:

[code]

    　　ち　Value
    　　ね　Price
    
[/code]

Compare the following words:

[code]

    　　安値　　　やすね　　　Low **price**
    　　高値　　　たかね　　　High **price**
    　　卸値　　　おろしね　　Wholesale **price**
    　　終値　　　おわりね　　Closing **price**
    　　半値　　　ハンね　　　Half **price**
    　　言い値　　いいね　　　Asking **price**
    　　破格値　　ハカクね　　Absurdly [low] **price**
[/code]

All of these are about the price or cost of some object or commodity, and they
all use `ね`, meaning roughly 値段. Contrast with the following words ending in
`ち`:

[code]

    　　価値　　　カチ　　　　　**Value**
    　　数値　　　スウチ　　　　Numerical **value**
    　　同値　　　ドウチ　　　　Equivalent ("equal **value** ")
    　　経験値　　ケイケンチ　　Experience points [in a video game] ("EXP **value** ")
[/code]

In each of these words, 値 is used to write `ち`, meaning roughly 値打.

Knowing this difference, we can decide `破格` + `値` is probably `はかくね`, since
the focus is on the actual _cost or price_ of the item in question.

