訓読み

Japanese

Kanji in this term
訓	読
くん Grade: 4	よ Grade: 2
jūbakoyomi

Alternative spellings
訓讀み (kyūjitai) 訓読

Etymology

Compound of 訓 (kun, “meaning”) +‎ 読み (yomi, “reading”). Originally referred to the meanings of Chinese words as expressed in native Japanese words or 大和(やまと)言(こと)葉(ば) (Yamato kotoba), as opposed to the sounds (i.e. pronunciations) to use when reading Chinese text (called 音読み (on'yomi) or 音読 (ondoku), literally “sound reading”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くんよみ [kùń'yómí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟̃ᵝɰ̃jo̞mʲi]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

訓(くん)読(よ)み • (kun'yomi) 

1. (linguistics) kun'yomi: a reading of a kanji that is not derived from the kanji's original pronunciation borrowed from Chinese

Usage notes

• See kun'yomi in Appendix:Japanese glossary for more details.

Coordinate terms

Based on native Japanese vocabulary:

• 名乗(なの)り (nanori) (used for the readings of names: given names and sometimes place names)

Based on Chinese-derived pronunciations:

• 音読(おんよ)み (on'yomi)
  • 漢音(かんおん) (kan'on)
  • 呉音(ごおん) (goon)
  • 唐音(とうおん) (tōon)
  • 唐宋音(とうそうおん) (tōsōon)
  • 宋音(そうおん) (sōon)
  • 慣用音(かんようおん) (kan'yōon)

Verb

訓(くん)読(よ)みする • (kun'yomi suru) suru (stem 訓(くん)読(よ)みし (kun'yomi shi), past 訓(くん)読(よ)みした (kun'yomi shita))

1. to use the kun'yomi of a word, to read a kanji using the pronunciation of a native Japanese word

Conjugation

Conjugation of "訓読みする" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	訓読みし	くんよみし	kun'yomi shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	訓読みし	くんよみし	kun'yomi shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	訓読みする	くんよみする	kun'yomi suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	訓読みする	くんよみする	kun'yomi suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	訓読みすれ	くんよみすれ	kun'yomi sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	訓読みせよ¹ 訓読みしろ²	くんよみせよ¹ くんよみしろ²	kun'yomi seyo¹ kun'yomi shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	訓読みされる	くんよみされる	kun'yomi sareru
Causative	訓読みさせる 訓読みさす	くんよみさせる くんよみさす	kun'yomi saseru kun'yomi sasu
Potential	訓読みできる	くんよみできる	kun'yomi dekiru
Volitional	訓読みしよう	くんよみしよう	kun'yomi shiyō
Negative	訓読みしない	くんよみしない	kun'yomi shinai
Negative continuative	訓読みせず	くんよみせず	kun'yomi sezu
Formal	訓読みします	くんよみします	kun'yomi shimasu
Perfective	訓読みした	くんよみした	kun'yomi shita
Conjunctive	訓読みして	くんよみして	kun'yomi shite
Hypothetical conditional	訓読みすれば	くんよみすれば	kun'yomi sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative