On'yomi

or is a way of homophonically reading kanji (Chinese characters) in Japanese. The here are the [[Sino-Japanese vocabulary|approximated Template:Em]], using Japanese consonants and vowels, of historical Chinese words. In contrast, the "readings" acquired from the Template:Em of those same Chinese words into Japanese are known as kun'yomi.

A single kanji might have multiple on'yomi pronunciations, reflecting the Chinese pronunciations from different time periods or regions. On'yomi pronunciations are generally classified into go-on, kan-on, tō-on and kan'yō-on, roughly based on when they were borrowed from Chinese during the peaks of the Sinosphere.

Generally, on'yomi pronunciations are used for technical, compound words, which were mostly foreign loanwords from Ancient China; while the native kun'yomi pronunciation is used for singular, simpler words.

Usage

On'yomi primarily occur in , many of which are the result of the adoption, along with the kanji themselves, of Chinese words for concepts that either did not exist in Japanese or could not be articulated as elegantly using native words. This borrowing process is often compared to the English borrowings from Latin, Greek, and Norman French, since Chinese-borrowed terms are often more specialized, or considered to sound more erudite or formal, than their native counterparts (occupying a higher linguistic register). The major exception to this rule is family names, in which the native kun'yomi are usually used (though on'yomi are found in many personal names, especially men's names).

Kanji invented in Japan (kokuji) would not normally be expected to have on'yomi, but there are exceptions, such as the character Template:Category handler ('to work'), which has the kun'yomi hatara(ku) and the on'yomi dō, and Template:Category handler ('gland'), which has only the on'yomi sen—in both cases, these come from the on'yomi of the phonetic component, respectively dō (Template:Category handler) and sen (Template:Category handler).

Characteristics

In Chinese, most characters are associated with a single Chinese sound, though there are distinct literary and colloquial readings. However, some homographs () such as (Mandarin: or , Japanese: an, gō, gyō) have more than one reading in Chinese representing different meanings, which is reflected in the carryover to Japanese as well. Additionally, many Chinese syllables, especially those with an entering tone, did not fit the largely consonant-vowel (CV) phonotactics of classical Japanese. Thus most on'yomi are composed of two morae (beats), the second of which is either a lengthening of the vowel in the first mora (to ei, ō, or ū), the vowel i, or one of the syllables ku, ki, tsu, chi, fu (historically, later merged into ō and ū), or moraic n, chosen for their approximation to the final consonants of Middle Chinese. It may be that palatalized consonants before vowels other than i developed in Japanese as a result of Chinese borrowings, as they are virtually unknown in words of native Japanese origin, but are common in Chinese.

Classification

Generally, on'yomi are classified into four types according to their region and time of origin:

• readings derive from the Early Middle Chinese pronunciation used in the Northern and Southern dynasties of China during the 5th and 6th centuries, primarily from the Lower Yangtze Mandarin variety around the Southern Dynasties' capital Jiankang (today's Nanjing), which were immigrant northern speech (Mandarin) influenced by the local Wu dialects. These cover loanwords adopted when the Chinese writing system was first introduced (reputedly by the toraijin Wani) into Japan during the Kofun period.
• readings come from the Late Middle Chinese pronunciation utilized during the Tang dynasty of China in the 7th to 9th centuries, primarily from the standard Central Plains Mandarin dialects of the imperial capital Chang'an (modern Xi'an), covering loanwords adopted during the Asuka and Nara period. Here, Kan refers to Han Chinese people or China proper, as in the similar word kanji (literally meaning 'Han character').
• , also known as , are readings based on the Old and Middle Mandarin pronunciations of later dynasties of China, such as the Song and Ming. These cover all readings adopted from the Heian era to the Edo period.
• readings, which are mistaken or changed readings of the kanji that have become accepted into the Japanese language. In some cases, they are the actual readings that accompanied the character's introduction to Japan but do not match how the character "should" (is prescribed to) be read according to the rules of character construction and pronunciation.

The most common form of readings is the kan-on one, and use of a non-kan-on reading in a word where the kan-on reading is well known is a common cause of reading mistakes or difficulty, such as in (go-on), where Template:Category handler is usually instead read as kai. The go-on readings are especially common in Buddhist terminology such as , as well as in some of the earliest loans, such as the Sino-Japanese numbers. The tō-on readings occur in some later words, such as , , and . The go-on, kan-on, and tō-on readings are generally cognate (with rare exceptions of homographs; see below), having a common origin in Old Chinese, and hence form linguistic doublets or triplets, but they can differ significantly from each other and from modern Chinese pronunciation.

Ongana

are a type of Man'yōgana (kanji that are used phonemically and that predate modern kana) that make use of the kana's on'yomi. For example:

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Examples

Examples (rare readings in parentheses)

Kanji	Meaning	Go-on	Kan-on	Tō-on	Kan'yō-on	Middle Chinese
Template:Wikt-lang	bright	myō	mei	(min)	—	mjang
Template:Wikt-lang	go	gyō gō	kō kō	(an)	—	haengH
Template:Wikt-lang	extreme	goku	kyoku	—	—	gik
Template:Wikt-lang	pearl	shu	shu	ju	(zu)	tsyu
Template:Wikt-lang	degree	do	(to)	—	—	duH, dak
Template:Wikt-lang	transport	(shu)	(shu)	—	yu	syu
Template:Wikt-lang	masculine	—	—	—	yū	hjuwng
Template:Wikt-lang	bear	—	—	—	yū	hjuwng
Template:Wikt-lang	child	shi	shi	su	—	tsiX
Template:Wikt-lang	clear	shō	sei	(shin)	—	tshjeng
Template:Wikt-lang	capital	kyō	kei	(kin)	—	kjaeng
Template:Wikt-lang	soldier	hyō	hei	—	—	pjaeng
Template:Wikt-lang	strong	gō	kyō	—	—	gjangX

See also

• Kun'yomi
• Kanji