Is 子年 read as ねずみどし or ねどし? What about 卯年 and 亥年?


My dictionary says that 子年 can be read as both ねずみどし and ねどし, but when typing
it in my computer, my IME only seems to convert ねずみどし to kanji.  
The same goes for 卯年 (うどし and うさぎどし) and 亥年 (いどし and いのししどし).

Are both readings used? If so, which one is used more?




The twelve signs of the Zodiac are called the
[十二支{じゅうにし}](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E6%94%AF), which
is sometimes translated as the twelve "[Earthly
branches](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthly_Branches)". Each of these
"branches" is normally written with a particular kanji, and each has an
associated animal. Although they have both ON and KUN readings, the normal
reading for each (according to my 岩波{いわなみ}国語辞典{こくごじてん}) is the KUN reading.

In eight of these characters, the KUN reading is the same as the regular word
for the associated animal:

> `丑{うし}（牛）` `寅{とら}（虎）` `辰{たつ}（龍）` `午{うま}（馬）`
>
> `未{ひつじ}（羊）` `申{さる}（猿）` `酉{とり}（鳥）` `戌{いぬ}（犬）`

For these eight words, if you add the character 年 representing the word とし, I
would expect there to be only one common reading apiece:

> `丑年{うしどし}` `寅年{とらどし}` `辰年{たつどし}` `午年{うまどし}`
>
> `未年{ひつじどし}` `申年{さるどし}` `酉年{とりどし}` `戌年{いぬどし}`

However, in the other four characters, the KUN reading differs from the normal
name for the animal:

> `子{ね}（[鼠]{ねずみ}）` `卯{う}（[兎]{うさぎ}）` `巳{み}（[蛇]{へび}）` `亥{い}（[猪]{いのしし}）`

In these cases, you could form two words. First, you could do the same thing
we did earlier, and combine the words represented by the KUN readings of both
characters: 子{ね} + 年{とし} = 子年{ねどし}。 Following this pattern for all four
compounds, we get these words:

> `子年{ねどし}` `[卯年]{うどし}` `[巳年]{みどし}` `[亥年]{いどし}`

However, ね・う・み・い, while not uncommon, are somewhat less common words than
ねずみ・うし・へび・いのしし. It's possible you might want to combine these words with とし
instead, in which case you get these compounds as a result:

> `ねずみどし` `うしどし` `へびどし` `いのししどし`

Although these aren't the same _words_ as in our earlier list, they have
pretty much the same _meaning_. So, we could probably write them using the
same kanji, even though ねずみ・うし・へび・いのしし aren't among the normal KUN readings
for those characters. (And indeed, Japanese speakers did just that.) We end up
with these compounds:

> `[子年]{ねずみどし}` `[卯年]{うさぎどし}` `[巳年]{へびどし}` `[亥年]{いのししどし}`

And as a result, we have four compounds which can be read either way.

Are both versions used? Yes. Which is more common? I can't say, but based on
my attempts to research the question, I would guess the shorter versions (such
as ねどし) are more common. Perhaps someone else will be able to provide you with
an answer to the frequency question.




The twelve signs of the Zodiac are called the
[十二支{じゅうにし}](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E6%94%AF), which
is sometimes translated as the twelve "[Earthly
branches](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthly_Branches)". Each of these
"branches" is normally written with a particular kanji, and each has an
associated animal. Although they have both ON and KUN readings, the normal
reading for each (according to my 岩波{いわなみ}国語辞典{こくごじてん}) is the KUN reading.

In eight of these characters, the KUN reading is the same as the regular word
for the associated animal:

> `丑{うし}（牛）` `寅{とら}（虎）` `辰{たつ}（龍）` `午{うま}（馬）`
>
> `未{ひつじ}（羊）` `申{さる}（猿）` `酉{とり}（鳥）` `戌{いぬ}（犬）`

For these eight words, if you add the character 年 representing the word とし, I
would expect there to be only one common reading apiece:

> `丑年{うしどし}` `寅年{とらどし}` `辰年{たつどし}` `午年{うまどし}`
>
> `未年{ひつじどし}` `申年{さるどし}` `酉年{とりどし}` `戌年{いぬどし}`

However, in the other four characters, the KUN reading differs from the normal
name for the animal:

> `子{ね}（[鼠]{ねずみ}）` `卯{う}（[兎]{うさぎ}）` `巳{み}（[蛇]{へび}）` `亥{い}（[猪]{いのしし}）`

In these cases, you could form two words. First, you could do the same thing
we did earlier, and combine the words represented by the KUN readings of both
characters: 子{ね} + 年{とし} = 子年{ねどし}。 Following this pattern for all four
compounds, we get these words:

> `子年{ねどし}` `[卯年]{うどし}` `[巳年]{みどし}` `[亥年]{いどし}`

However, ね・う・み・い, while not uncommon, are somewhat less common words than
ねずみ・うし・へび・いのしし. It's possible you might want to combine these words with とし
instead, in which case you get these compounds as a result:

> `ねずみどし` `うしどし` `へびどし` `いのししどし`

Although these aren't the same _words_ as in our earlier list, they have
pretty much the same _meaning_. So, we could probably write them using the
same kanji, even though ねずみ・うし・へび・いのしし aren't among the normal KUN readings
for those characters. (And indeed, Japanese speakers did just that.) We end up
with these compounds:

> `[子年]{ねずみどし}` `[卯年]{うさぎどし}` `[巳年]{へびどし}` `[亥年]{いのししどし}`

And as a result, we have four compounds which can be read either way.

Are both versions used? Yes. Which is more common? I can't say, but based on
my attempts to research the question, I would guess the shorter versions (such
as ねどし) are more common. Perhaps someone else will be able to provide you with
an answer to the frequency question.

