Understanding the Reading of 近道


Why is 近道 read/pronounced as ちかみち and not きんどう?

My first assumption is that the word originated before the kanji was
introduced, but I don't have this sort of information on tap.




Basic old words tend to be in kun-readings, while modern technical words tend
to be in on-readings. Still, it's just a tendency. You ultimately have to
remember the pronunciation of each word individually.

There are many words that end with 道 pronounced as みち:

  * 脇道 (わきみち)
  * 小道 (こみち)
  * 獣道 (けものみち)
  * 坂道 (さかみち)
  * 山道 (やまみち; but see: [What is the difference between 山道【さんどう】 and 山道【やまみち】?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/72177/5010))

You can see these concepts are generally older than on-reading words such as
国道 (こくどう), 隧道 (ずいどう), 自動車道 (じどうしゃどう), 水道 (すいどう), and 赤道 (せきどう). I don't know
if 近道 really existed before the arrival of kanji, but it's hard to imagine the
old people were unfamiliar with the concept of shortcut.




Basic old words tend to be in kun-readings, while modern technical words tend
to be in on-readings. Still, it's just a tendency. You ultimately have to
remember the pronunciation of each word individually.

There are many words that end with 道 pronounced as みち:

  * 脇道 (わきみち)
  * 小道 (こみち)
  * 獣道 (けものみち)
  * 坂道 (さかみち)
  * 山道 (やまみち; but see: [What is the difference between 山道【さんどう】 and 山道【やまみち】?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/72177/5010))

You can see these concepts are generally older than on-reading words such as
国道 (こくどう), 隧道 (ずいどう), 自動車道 (じどうしゃどう), 水道 (すいどう), and 赤道 (せきどう). I don't know
if 近道 really existed before the arrival of kanji, but it's hard to imagine the
old people were unfamiliar with the concept of shortcut.

