Hi, I was hoping to find some advice here! I noticed animals in compound words often have their own suffix (is that a suffix?), such as ookami becoming -rou, or inu becoming -ken. But I’ve heard -ko for several animals: sharks, foxes, tigers, and probably others I’m not remembering. Is there any system to what suffix an animal gets and why some share a suffix? And how do they become so different, like neko – byou, whereas the bear (kuma) simply becomes washbear (araiguma)? Thanks in advance!
2 comments
I think you are talking about a few different things
Read about [rendaku](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/rendaku/)
Read about [counters](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/japanese-counters-guide/)
Probably getting familiar with the concept of multiple readings of the same kanji will clear your confusion: https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/onyomi-kunyomi/