LLearn Japanese

Riki or Chikara? 力

I’m learning Kanji with WaniKani. And I already learnt that 力 is pronounced riki and means power. Now it’s telling me it means power and is pronounced chikara。。。 why? And how do you know when reading weather it’s prounounced riki or chikara? It’s really confusing me, would be so appreciative of any help!

6 comments

  2. it isn’t. outside of the context of a word, it has no pronunciation or meaning

    kanji aren’t words, memorize words

    `力`を出す＝`ちから`をだす＝put one’s strength into something

    日本語能`力`試験＝にほんごのう`りょく`しけん＝JLPT

    `力`学＝`りき`がく＝(study of) mechanics

    there’s no guaranteed pronunciation pattern just like there’s no way to guess a lot of english words’ pronunciations, either, you just have to memorize them

    kanji are just how words are spelled

  3. りき and りょく are onyomi so they are usually used in jukugo. Jukugo are compound words made of multiple kanji. So 体力 is たい**りょく**

    ちから is kunyomi so it’s usually used when the kanji makes a word by itself. In this case, 力 is ちから

  6. – This rule is not 100% correct, but if the kanjis are stand-alone, they usually use Kun-reading:
    水 /mizu/, 花 /hana/, 命 /inochi/, 湖 /mizuumi/, お金 /okane/ etc.
    – Some “stand-alone” kanjis have only on-reading: 姓 /sei/, 礼 /rei/, 蝶 /chou/, etc.
    – Kanji compounds are complicated, they may have On-reading, Kun-reading, both readings, or mixed reading. (**Bold texts** below are On-reading)
    故郷 can be read as /furusato/ or /**kokyou**/, 花嫁 /hanayome/, 仕事 /shigoto/, 牛乳 /**gyuunyuu**/, 場所 /ba**sho**/, 重箱 /**juu**bako/, 金色 /**kin**’iro/, 意地悪 /**iji**waru/, etc.
    – If the kanji compounds contain kanas, there is high chance that they use Kun-reading:
    生け花 /ikebana/, 力強い /chikaraduyoi/, 当たり前 /atarimae/, etc.
    – If the kanji compounds are borrowed from Chinese, they usually use On-reading. If you know Chinese, it does help a lot.
    経済 /keizai/ 研究 /kenkyuu/ 雑誌 /zasshi/ 地震学 /jishingaku/ 職業 /shokugyou/, etc.

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