JLPT level N5
Kanji 言 — "Say"
Here is what 言 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "Say" stick.
How it is read
On'yomi
げん, ごん
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
Kun'yomi
い.う, こと
the native Japanese reading — usually appears when the kanji stands alone
What it is made of
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.
言 Say
言 Say
The story
Say and its component Say are one and the same!
- 言 Say
The 4 strokes coming out of the mouth represent the sound that is Speech.
Words that use 言
12 of 25 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- 言う いう to say, to tell
- 言葉 ことば word, language
- 言い方 いいかた way of speaking, expression, phrasing
- 証言 しょうげん evidence, testimony
- 言い訳 いいわけ excuse, explanation
- 言い出す いいだす to start talking, to suggest (v.t.)
- 発言 はつげん utterance, speech, proposal
- 一言 ひとこと one word
- 伝言 でんごん verbal message, message left
- 宣言 せんげん declaration, proclamation, announcement
- 言わば いわば so to speak, as it were
- 予言 よげん prediction, promise, prognostication
Want 言 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.
