How are the different pronunciations of kanji used, such as onyomi and kunyomi?


Even when I think I've memorized how to read a particular kanji, 人 (ひと) for
example, and try to read other words I find that it's also pronounced じん...and
I'm sure it probably has many other readings.

Should readings just be taken on a case-by-case basis / word-by-word basis? Is
there any point to memorizing a single kanji reading and applying it else
where or is there some structure to when each reading is used?




Most of the time, kanji are used to write **words** or **parts of words**
--prefixes, suffixes, and so on. To know which reading is appropriate, you
have to know the relevant Japanese words or parts of words.

For example, look at the following:

> にほん **じん** _'Japanese person/people'_  
>  アメリカ **じん** _'American(s)'_  
>  がいこく **じん** _'foreigner(s)'_

Here, we have a suffix じん meaning "person". As you can see, it attaches to
nouns that denote places people are from. That's not the only way じん can be
used, but it's a pattern you need to learn. And once you know this pattern,
you can read the following:

> 日本 **人** にほん **じん** (not *にほん **にん** )  
>  アメリカ **人** アメリカ **じん** (not *アメリカ **にん** )  
>  外国 **人** がいこく **じん** (not *がいこく **にん** )

There are two ways you can learn this sort of pattern:

  * **Explicitly** : You can be taught that じん is used this way, and that it's written 人 in kanji.
  * **Implicitly** : You can learn words like the above and read new words _by analogy_ :

> Hmm, what's this word? It says フランス **人** , but I haven't learned that word
> yet, so how do I know which reading to use? Well, I know the words 日本 **人**
> and アメリカ **人** , and it's **じん** in both of those. _I bet this word is_ フランス
> **じん**!

You'll probably do a combination of both as you learn. When you do, you'll be
learning facts about the Japanese language--not just about kanji or readings,
but about how words and parts of words fit together and what they mean when
they do.

There are certain overarching patterns you'll notice pretty early on in your
studies, and you can fall back on these patterns when you aren't sure:

  * **_Kun_** readings tend to go with other **_kun_** readings.
  * **_On_** readings tend to go with other **_on_** readings.
  * Foreign words tend to go with **_on_** readings.

These rules are far from absolute! Although most compounds are _kun-kun_ or
_on-on_ , mixed compounds (called
[重箱読み](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%8D%E7%AE%B1%E8%AA%AD%E3%81%BF) and
[湯桶読み](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B9%AF%E6%A1%B6%E8%AA%AD%E3%81%BF)) are
still relatively common--much like how in English, we have hybrids like
_television_ (Greek-Latin) and _biathlon_ (Latin-Greek).

And there are overriding factors:

  * Some words or parts of words are **productive** , meaning they form new words or compounds readily. Our example of じん above is very productive; you can invent a place name and combine it with that name, if you like. Others are less productive, or not productive at all. For example, 一人 is ひとり, but り only appears in a very small set of words that you'll have to memorize. You can't form new words with it yourself.

  * Occasionally words are **suppletive** , meaning they take the place of an expected form. Although にん as a counter for people is very productive, the suppletive words ひとり and ふたり generally take the place of the expected forms いちにん and ににん. You have to memorize these words as exceptions. 

  * Sometimes different readings have **different meanings**. For example, 塞 has two _on_ readings, そく and さい. The former is used when it means ふさぐ _'obstruct'_ , and the latter when it means とりで _'fortress'_.

So you can't simply memorize a set of readings for each kanji, I'm afraid.
You'll have to learn Japanese words and parts of words, to learn how those are
written, and to make educated guesses based on what you've learned so far when
your knowledge falls short.




Most of the time, kanji are used to write **words** or **parts of words**
--prefixes, suffixes, and so on. To know which reading is appropriate, you
have to know the relevant Japanese words or parts of words.

For example, look at the following:

> にほん **じん** _'Japanese person/people'_  
>  アメリカ **じん** _'American(s)'_  
>  がいこく **じん** _'foreigner(s)'_

Here, we have a suffix じん meaning "person". As you can see, it attaches to
nouns that denote places people are from. That's not the only way じん can be
used, but it's a pattern you need to learn. And once you know this pattern,
you can read the following:

> 日本 **人** にほん **じん** (not *にほん **にん** )  
>  アメリカ **人** アメリカ **じん** (not *アメリカ **にん** )  
>  外国 **人** がいこく **じん** (not *がいこく **にん** )

There are two ways you can learn this sort of pattern:

  * **Explicitly** : You can be taught that じん is used this way, and that it's written 人 in kanji.
  * **Implicitly** : You can learn words like the above and read new words _by analogy_ :

> Hmm, what's this word? It says フランス **人** , but I haven't learned that word
> yet, so how do I know which reading to use? Well, I know the words 日本 **人**
> and アメリカ **人** , and it's **じん** in both of those. _I bet this word is_ フランス
> **じん**!

You'll probably do a combination of both as you learn. When you do, you'll be
learning facts about the Japanese language--not just about kanji or readings,
but about how words and parts of words fit together and what they mean when
they do.

There are certain overarching patterns you'll notice pretty early on in your
studies, and you can fall back on these patterns when you aren't sure:

  * **_Kun_** readings tend to go with other **_kun_** readings.
  * **_On_** readings tend to go with other **_on_** readings.
  * Foreign words tend to go with **_on_** readings.

These rules are far from absolute! Although most compounds are _kun-kun_ or
_on-on_ , mixed compounds (called
[重箱読み](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%8D%E7%AE%B1%E8%AA%AD%E3%81%BF) and
[湯桶読み](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B9%AF%E6%A1%B6%E8%AA%AD%E3%81%BF)) are
still relatively common--much like how in English, we have hybrids like
_television_ (Greek-Latin) and _biathlon_ (Latin-Greek).

And there are overriding factors:

  * Some words or parts of words are **productive** , meaning they form new words or compounds readily. Our example of じん above is very productive; you can invent a place name and combine it with that name, if you like. Others are less productive, or not productive at all. For example, 一人 is ひとり, but り only appears in a very small set of words that you'll have to memorize. You can't form new words with it yourself.

  * Occasionally words are **suppletive** , meaning they take the place of an expected form. Although にん as a counter for people is very productive, the suppletive words ひとり and ふたり generally take the place of the expected forms いちにん and ににん. You have to memorize these words as exceptions. 

  * Sometimes different readings have **different meanings**. For example, 塞 has two _on_ readings, そく and さい. The former is used when it means ふさぐ _'obstruct'_ , and the latter when it means とりで _'fortress'_.

So you can't simply memorize a set of readings for each kanji, I'm afraid.
You'll have to learn Japanese words and parts of words, to learn how those are
written, and to make educated guesses based on what you've learned so far when
your knowledge falls short.

