訓読み（くんよみ、kunyomi）
- Japanese reading

訓読み, or くんよみ, refers to the native Japanese reading of a Chinese character (kanji). It's the Japanese pronunciation and meaning associated with a kanji, derived from the Japanese language, rather than the borrowed Chinese pronunciation (on'yomi). Think of it as the "Japanese reading" of a character. It usually reflects the meaning of the kanji within the context of the Japanese word. Often, the 訓読み is a single word or a few words and phrases which represent the meaning of the kanji.

⚫︎ 山 Translation: Mountain 訓読み: やま (yama) ⚫︎ 食べる Translation: To eat 訓読み: たべる(taberu) ⚫︎ 愛 Translation: Love 訓読み: あいする(aisuru)

You'll encounter 訓読み frequently when learning Japanese vocabulary. Understanding the 訓読み is crucial for comprehending the meaning of words. It is especially important for native Japanese words and is more common in everyday conversations. Knowing the 訓読み helps you understand how a particular kanji functions within the Japanese language. When you see a kanji in a sentence and can't immediately recall the 音読み (on'yomi), trying the 訓読み is often a good starting point to deduce the word's meaning.

⚫︎ The word 訓読み is written in ひらがな (hiragana) as くんよみ. ⚫︎ It is always written in ひらがな when it is written by itself. ⚫︎ The kanji for 訓 (kun) means "instruction" or "reading." ⚫︎ The kanji for 読 (yomi) means "to read." ⚫︎ The okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji, like たべる of 食べる) varies depending on the kanji and the word it is used in.

There are no direct synonyms for 訓読み as it's a specific term for a type of reading. However, related terms include: ⚫︎ 音読み (on'yomi): The Chinese-derived reading of a kanji.

⚫︎ 音読み (on'yomi): The Chinese-derived reading of a kanji.

この漢字の訓読みは何ですか？ ・Translation: What is the kun'yomi (Japanese reading) of this kanji? ・Explanation: This sentence directly asks about the 訓読み of a particular kanji.

犬の訓読みは「いぬ」です。 ・Translation: The kun'yomi of 犬 (dog) is "inu." ・Explanation: This sentence provides the 訓読み (inu) of the kanji 犬.

The word 訓読み is a compound word. 訓 (kun) means "instruction" or "teaching," originally referring to the way Japanese scholars would interpret Chinese texts, providing a Japanese gloss or "reading." 読み (yomi) means "reading." Therefore, 訓読み essentially means "Japanese reading" or "instruction-based reading." It refers to how the Japanese interpreted and adopted the meanings of Chinese characters into their own language and pronunciation, which resulted in the creation of native Japanese readings for these characters.