# Kan-on

Kan-on or kan'on (漢音, Japanese pronunciation: or, "Han sound") are Japanese kanji readings borrowed from Chinese during the Tang dynasty, from the 7th to the 9th centuries; a period which corresponds to the Japanese Nara period. They were introduced by, among others, envoys from Japanese missions to Tang China. Kan-on should not be confused with tō-on (唐音, Tang sound), which were later phonetic loans.
Kan-on are on'yomi (音読み) based on the central Chang'an pronunciation of Middle Chinese. The syllable Kan is a reading of Middle Chinese: 漢 (xan$^H$) as per Japanese phonology, referring to the Han dynasty, which had Chang'an as its capital city. Furthermore, Kan (漢) has also become a description for all things Chinese, e.g., kanji ('Chinese characters').
Kan'on partly displaced the earlier go-on, which were "just imitations of Korean imitations, but Kan-on were imitations of the real thing."
A minority of characters never had their kan-on transmitted to Japan; their kan-on are sometimes reconstructed in Japanese dictionaries although not specifically marked as such. A few dictionaries go as far as to discard attested kan-on in favour of more systematic pronunciations.

## Characteristics as compared to go-on
### In consonants

| type | unvoiced / voiced | unvoiced / voiced | unvoiced / voiced | unvoiced / voiced | unvoiced / voiced | unvoiced / voiced | voiced / nasal | voiced / nasal | voiced / nasal | voiced / nasal | voiced / nasal | zi- / ni- or zy- / ny- | zi- / ni- or zy- / ny- | zi- / ni- or zy- / ny- | zi- / ni- or zy- / ny- | zi- / ni- or zy- / ny- | zi- / ni- or zy- / ny- | zi- / ni- or zy- / ny- |
| example | 神 | 大 | 土 | 地 | 分 | 仏 | 男 | 女 | 万 | 美 | 無 | 二児 | 人刃 | 日 | 如 | 若 |
| Kan-on | sin | tai | to | ti | fun | futu | dan | dyo | ban | bi | bu | zi | zin | zitu | zyo | zyaku |
| Go-on | zin | dai | do | di | bun | butu | nan | nyo | man | mi | mu | ni | nin | niti | nyo | nyaku |
| notes | | | | | | | d- / n- | d- / n- | b- / m- | b- / m- | b- / m- | Mandarin r-, er | Mandarin r-, er | Mandarin r-, er | Mandarin r-, er | Mandarin r-, er | Mandarin r-, er | Mandarin r-, er |

### In vowels

| type | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | * / -e | -ei / -ai | -ei / -ai | -ei / -ai | -ei / -ai | * / -u | * / -u | * / -u | * / -u | * / -u | * / -u | * / -u | * / -u |
| examples | 衣 | 気 | 戯 | 愛 | 解 | 会絵 | 快怪 | 外 | 仮家 | 下夏 | 化 | 花 | 西斉 | 体帝 | 米 | 礼 | 素 | 図 | 怒 | 公工口 | 豆頭 | 右有 | 九久 | 留 |
| Kan-on | i | ki | gi | ai | kai | kwai | kwai | gwai | ka | ka | kwa | kwa | sei | tei | bei | rei | so | to | do | kou | tou | iu | kiu | riu |
| Go-on | e | ke | ge | e | ge | we | ke | ge | ke | ge | ke | ke | sai | tai | mai | rai | su | du | nu | ku | du | u | ku | ru |
| Notes | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mandarin -i | Mandarin -i | Mandarin -i | Mandarin -i | | | | | | | | |
| Type | -i- / -o- | -i- / -o- | -i- / -o- | -i- / -o- | -i- / -o- | -e- / -o- | -e- / -o- | -e- / -o- | -e- / -o- | -a- / -o- | -a- / -o- | -a- / -ya- | -a- / -ya- | -a- / -ya- | -yoku / -iki | -yoku / -iki | -yoku / -iki | -yoku / -iki |
| Examples | 音隠 | 今金 | 品 | 乙 | 乞 | 遠園 | 建 | 言厳 | 越 | 叛 | 発 | 行 | 客 | 白 | 色拭 | 食 | 直 | 力 |
| Kan-on | in | kin | fin | itu | kitu | wen | ken | gen | wetu | fan | fatu | kau | kaku | faku | syoku | syoku | tyoku | ryoku |
| Go-on | on | kon | fon | otu | kotu | won | kon | gon | woti | fon | fotu | gyau | kyaku | byaku | siki | ziki | diki | riki |
| Notes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Type | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | -e- / -ya- | others | others | others | others |
| Examples | 京経 | 形 | 正生性声省精 | 成静 | 丁挺 | 定 | 兵 | 平病 | 名命明 | 霊 | 役 | 石赤 | 寂 | 暦 | 牛 | 月 | 殺 | 文聞 |
| Kan-on | kei | kei | sei | sei | tei | tei | fei | fei | mei | rei | eki | seki | seki | reki | giu | getu | satu | bun |
| Go-on | kyau | gyau | syau | zyau | tyau | dyau | fyau | byau | myau | ryau | yaku | syaku | zyaku | ryaku | gu | gwati | setu | mon |
| Notes | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng | | | | | | | | |