Page 61 - Japanese Character Writing for Dummies

to listen, hear

Did you notice that there is a gate 門 in this kanji? Under the gate, there is an ear 耳. This

MON, BUN/ kanji produces verbs such as kiku (listen or ask) and kikoeru (can hear).
Combined with the kanji meaning “new,” we get the word 新聞 shimbun (newspaper),
ki(ku) which literally means “newly hear.” Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Radical: 耳 Number of strokes: fourteen

to say

iu (pronounced? yū) is the verb for “say.” If you place a quotation mark right before the
verb, you can quote what someone said. For example, “(someone) says that. . .” becomes
GEN, GON/i(u)

“--- ” to itteimasu。This kanji is used as a radical in other characters such
as 語 (language), 話 (story, talk), 読 (read), and many more. When you see this kanji as
a part of another kanji, you can assume the character is somehow related to saying or
language.

Radical: 言 Number of strokes: seven

CHAPTER 3 105 Characters 55