Are there kanji which are NOT words by themselves (written standalone)?


In other words, are there kanji, which can **only** be used as a part of a
kanji compound and/or with okurigana?

For example:

  1. **見 - standalone kanji** , a word which means "view", "outlook"
  2. 見物 - kanji compound: "sightseeing", "watching", etc.
  3. 見る - kanji + okurigana: "to see", "to look", etc.

Is there a kanji where (1) is not an option?

If there are such kanji, do they have some special name?




Yes there are, but it is a grey area if you include rare, uncommon, creative
or archaic readings.

People can be creative especially when it comes to _kun_ -readings. Even for a
_kanji_ usually used only in compounds you might find a stand-alone usage if
you're looking hard enough. Some of these need _okurigana_ , eg. 隷う【したがう】 or
悠か【はるか】, but some don't, eg. 英【はやぶさ】.

Additionally, there are some _on_ readings that are rarely used as a word, eg.
感 or 奏 or 了, although it could be argued sometimes only as part of some (more
or less) fixed expressions. The same applies to 見 as well, 見【けん】 is not a
common "word", but you can find it in expressions such as:

> それは皮相【ひそう】の見【けん】である
>
> That's a rather superficial view of things.

A Japanese name could be [非単漢字](http://kindaigo.org/youshi00.html), but that's
more like a description, _and not exactly common_.

If you're looking for a technical term, it is called `word`. I know it sounds
simple, but effectively you are asking whether there is a _kanji_ that cannot
be used as a word by itself without further glyphs ( _kanji_ or _kana_ ).

> A word is a unit which is a constituent at the phrase level and above. It is
> sometimes identifiable according to such criteria as
>
>   * being the minimal possible unit in a reply
>   * having features such as
>   * a regular stress pattern, and
>   * phonological changes conditioned by or blocked at word boundaries
>   * being the largest unit resistant to insertion of new constituents within
> its boundaries, or
>   * being the smallest constituent that can be moved within a sentence
> without making the sentence ungrammatical.
>

>
> A word is sometimes placed, in a hierarchy of grammatical constituents,
> above the morpheme level and below the phrase level. source: [SIL
> Linguistics](http://www-01.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAWord.htm)

見【けん】 is not a word as in that you can just say or answer 見【けん】です ("it is a
view") and expect people to understand.

Some _kanji_ I can think of, mostly used only in one compound, with no _kun_
-readings by themselves:

> 蝙蝠 (bat, the animal), 蟷螂 (mantis), 髑髏 (skull), 躊躇 (hesitate)

But rarely: 蝠【まむし】, 躇む【ふむ】, 躊う【ためらう】

Some more _kanji_ if we don't count _okurigana_ :

> 乖 (eg. 乖離), 擁 (eg. 抱擁), 倣 (eg. 模倣), 避 (eg. 回避), 喚 (eg. 叫喚)




Yes there are, but it is a grey area if you include rare, uncommon, creative
or archaic readings.

People can be creative especially when it comes to _kun_ -readings. Even for a
_kanji_ usually used only in compounds you might find a stand-alone usage if
you're looking hard enough. Some of these need _okurigana_ , eg. 隷う【したがう】 or
悠か【はるか】, but some don't, eg. 英【はやぶさ】.

Additionally, there are some _on_ readings that are rarely used as a word, eg.
感 or 奏 or 了, although it could be argued sometimes only as part of some (more
or less) fixed expressions. The same applies to 見 as well, 見【けん】 is not a
common "word", but you can find it in expressions such as:

> それは皮相【ひそう】の見【けん】である
>
> That's a rather superficial view of things.

A Japanese name could be [非単漢字](http://kindaigo.org/youshi00.html), but that's
more like a description, _and not exactly common_.

If you're looking for a technical term, it is called `word`. I know it sounds
simple, but effectively you are asking whether there is a _kanji_ that cannot
be used as a word by itself without further glyphs ( _kanji_ or _kana_ ).

> A word is a unit which is a constituent at the phrase level and above. It is
> sometimes identifiable according to such criteria as
>
>   * being the minimal possible unit in a reply
>   * having features such as
>   * a regular stress pattern, and
>   * phonological changes conditioned by or blocked at word boundaries
>   * being the largest unit resistant to insertion of new constituents within
> its boundaries, or
>   * being the smallest constituent that can be moved within a sentence
> without making the sentence ungrammatical.
>

>
> A word is sometimes placed, in a hierarchy of grammatical constituents,
> above the morpheme level and below the phrase level. source: [SIL
> Linguistics](http://www-01.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAWord.htm)

見【けん】 is not a word as in that you can just say or answer 見【けん】です ("it is a
view") and expect people to understand.

Some _kanji_ I can think of, mostly used only in one compound, with no _kun_
-readings by themselves:

> 蝙蝠 (bat, the animal), 蟷螂 (mantis), 髑髏 (skull), 躊躇 (hesitate)

But rarely: 蝠【まむし】, 躇む【ふむ】, 躊う【ためらう】

Some more _kanji_ if we don't count _okurigana_ :

> 乖 (eg. 乖離), 擁 (eg. 抱擁), 倣 (eg. 模倣), 避 (eg. 回避), 喚 (eg. 叫喚)

