音
音 — Sound
sound, noise
On’yomiオン (on)
On’yomiイン (in)
On’yomi-ノン (-non)
Kun’yomiおと (oto)
Kun’yomiね (ne)
Stroke order (9 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 音
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 音楽 | おんがく ongaku | music |
| 音 | おと oto | sound; noise; (musical) note |
| 本音 | ほんね honne | real intention; motive; true opinion |
| 騒音 | そうおん souon | noise; din |
| 音声 | おんせい onsei | voice; speech; sound of a voice |
| 六十四分音符 | ろくじゅうしぶおんぷ rokujuushibuonpu | 64th note; hemidemisemiquaver; semidemisemiquaver |
Study notes
音 is a JLPT N4 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 1), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #491 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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