Reading of 七時: why しちじ and not ななじ


Why does ７時「七時」use "しちじ" and not use "ななじ" ?




It is important to understand the difference between [音読]{おんどく} and [訓読]{くんどく}
in Japanese. '音' means 'sound (pronunciation)' and '訓' means 'meaning'.

Reading '七' as 'なな' is '訓読' and as 'しち' is '音読'.

Reading '時' as 'とき' is '訓読' and as 'じ' is '音読'.

It is a kind of principle in Japanese to use both 音読 and 訓読 at the same time.
Since you are using 'じ' for '時', it is appropriate to use 'しち'.

There are some exceptions like '四時' which is read as 'よジ' (訓読 + 音読), not ' シジ'
(音読 + 音読) because the 音読 of '四' is 'シ' which is pronounced the same as '死
(death)'




It is important to understand the difference between [音読]{おんどく} and [訓読]{くんどく}
in Japanese. '音' means 'sound (pronunciation)' and '訓' means 'meaning'.

Reading '七' as 'なな' is '訓読' and as 'しち' is '音読'.

Reading '時' as 'とき' is '訓読' and as 'じ' is '音読'.

It is a kind of principle in Japanese to use both 音読 and 訓読 at the same time.
Since you are using 'じ' for '時', it is appropriate to use 'しち'.

There are some exceptions like '四時' which is read as 'よジ' (訓読 + 音読), not ' シジ'
(音読 + 音読) because the 音読 of '四' is 'シ' which is pronounced the same as '死
(death)'

