How do I know if a multi-kanji word like the one in this sentence is a name 美鶴木夜石は怖がらない?


> 美鶴木{みつるぎ}夜石{よいし}は怖がらない

How do I know if a multi-kanji word like the one in this sentence is a name?
How does one read it if the furigana was not given and there are multiple
pronunciations for the same kanjis?




I think it basically comes down to context.

Literate native speakers can usually read most or all of the words on a page,
and because they recognize most of the words, when they come to something
unknown, they can generally figure out from context what the function of that
unknown thing is in a sentence. For example, if it seems to be the subject of
a verb that generally takes human subjects, then it's probably a name.

An unknown string of kanji isn't always a name. For example, you might run
into a technical term like 相貌失認 that you haven't seen before. But odds are,
even if you can't figure out the meaning from the kanji, the rest of the
sentence or surrounding context wouldn't make it seem like a name. (And if the
context isn't enough for you to figure out the meaning, you can always look it
up!)

Context is probably enough most of the time. But . . .

Besides context, you can also look at the kanji and see if it _looks_ like a
word or a name. If you look at the kanji 美鶴木, you probably won't be able to
figure out any sort of meaning by looking at the characters. (Some kind of
beautiful crane tree?) It doesn't really look like a word. But if you try
sounding it out, you might be able to figure out みつるぎ, [and you might
recognize that as a Japanese name](http://blog-
imgs-80.fc2.com/e/b/i/ebichintabearuki/mitsurugi.jpg)―even if it isn't usually
written with those particular kanji.

If you don't know enough words or can't understand enough to figure it out, or
if you can't tell what words or names look like, don't worry! It'll get easier
as you learn more Japanese, and you can always look things up if you get stuck
:-)

