The kanji 聞 primarily signifies "to hear," "to listen," "to ask," or "to inquire." It relates to the act of receiving auditory information and understanding it, as well as the actions associated with gathering that information.

・On-yomi (音読み): ブン (bun), モン (mon) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): き（く） (kiku)

⚫︎聞きます (kikimasu) Translation: I hear; I listen; I ask. ⚫︎新聞 (shimbun) Translation: Newspaper (literally "news hear") ⚫︎質問 (shitsumon) Translation: Question; inquiry (literally "question hear")

The kanji 聞 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいいもじ). It combines two components: the "耳 (みみ, mimi)" radical, meaning "ear," on the left side, and the sound component "文 (ぶん, bun)" on the right side. The "耳" (ear) component provides the semantic clue, indicating that the kanji relates to hearing. The "文" (bun) component provides the phonetic clue, suggesting the sound of the character. Therefore, the character depicts an ear receiving information from a sound, representing the act of hearing.