If Japanese rice wine is called Sake then why is a liquor shop called a Saka-ya?


Or is it just my dictionary that made a mistake?




Your dictionary is correct. Knowing the history of words is not my specialty,
but I think I have something to contribute as a fellow learner, anyway...in
present day Japanese, you could say **kanji have multiple readings that depend
on the context in which they are used**. That is, it depends on the word in
which the kanji is included, and/or if other words/grammar constructs are
present in a sentence. (See [this jisho
page](http://jisho.org/search/%E9%85%92%20%23kanji) and notice the multiple
readings)

In the case of 酒, the kanji is read as "sake". And 酒屋 is read as "saka-ya".
Obviously, "sake" is not the same as "saka", so this particular word would be
one of those situations to memorize.




Your dictionary is correct. Knowing the history of words is not my specialty,
but I think I have something to contribute as a fellow learner, anyway...in
present day Japanese, you could say **kanji have multiple readings that depend
on the context in which they are used**. That is, it depends on the word in
which the kanji is included, and/or if other words/grammar constructs are
present in a sentence. (See [this jisho
page](http://jisho.org/search/%E9%85%92%20%23kanji) and notice the multiple
readings)

In the case of 酒, the kanji is read as "sake". And 酒屋 is read as "saka-ya".
Obviously, "sake" is not the same as "saka", so this particular word would be
one of those situations to memorize.

