弦
弦 — Bowstring
bowstring, chord, hypotenuse
On’yomiゲン (gen)
Kun’yomiつる (tsuru)
Stroke order (8 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 弦
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 弦楽 | げんがく gengaku | music for strings; string music |
| 弦 | つる tsuru | bowstring; string (of shamisen, guitar, violin, etc.); bail (arched pot handle) |
| 管弦楽 | かんげんがく kangengaku | orchestral music |
| 管弦楽団 | かんげんがくだん kangengakudan | orchestra |
| 弦楽器 | げんがっき gengakki | string instrument; stringed instrument |
| 三弦 | さんげん sangen | shamisen; samisen; sanxian (Chinese lute) |
Study notes
弦 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1773 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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