Kanji 南 — "South"
Here is what 南 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "South" stick.
How it is read
なん, な
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
みなみ
the native Japanese reading — usually appears when the kanji stands alone
How to remember it
Kanji are not random strokes. Learn the parts and the whole becomes easy. Put the parts together into one picture. The stranger it is, the harder it is to forget.
In the South, it's Ten degrees hotter — take off your Horned Hood and let everything Dry in the sun!
- 十 Ten
The Roman numeral X means 10. If you twist it a bit to make 十, it means Ten in Japanese!
- 冂 Hood
This component is the Hood of a hoodie that will have a face sticking out in the middle.
- 丷 Horns
It's the shape of Horns on both sides. Easy, right!
- 干 Dry
This is a clothesline that you use to hang clothes until they Dry.
Words that use 南
4 of 4 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- 南 みなみ south
- 南極 なんきょく south pole, Antarctic
- 南米 なんべい South America
- 南北 なんぼく south and north
Want 南 to still be there next month?
Reading it once is not remembering it. The app brings each kanji back right before you would have forgotten it.
