The kanji 硬 primarily conveys the idea of "hard," "stiff," "firm," or "solid." It describes something that resists deformation or compression, and often implies a lack of flexibility. It can apply to physical objects, but also figuratively to character traits or situations.

・On-yomi (音読み): コウ (kō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): かた(い) (katai)

⚫︎硬いパン Translation: Hard bread ⚫︎硬貨 Translation: Coin (literally "hard currency") ⚫︎態度が硬い Translation: Having a stiff/formal attitude

The kanji 硬 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). It combines the phonetic component 更 (kō/さら), which suggests "again" or "renew," with the semantic component 石 (ishi), meaning "stone." This combination suggests a stone that is persistently "hard" and unchanging. The character likely evolved from earlier forms that visually represented stone and incorporated the phonetic element to indicate the pronunciation and add nuance to its meaning.