# 音読み
## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 音 | 読 |
| おん Grade: 1 | よ Grade: 2 |
| jūbakoyomi ||
* Alternative spellings
* 音讀み (kyūjitai) 音読 (implied okurigana)

### Etymology

Compound of 音 (on, “sound”) +‎ 読み (yomi, “reading”). Originally referred to the sounds (i.e. pronunciations) to use when reading Chinese text, as opposed to the meanings of these Chinese words in Japanese (called 訓読み (kun'yomi) or 訓読 (kundoku)).

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) おんよみ [òń'yómí] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [õ̞ɰ̃jo̞mʲi]

### Noun

音(おん)読(よ)み • (on'yomi)
* (linguistics) the reading of a Japanese word written in kanji that is roughly based on the pronunciation of the kanji characters in the originating Chinese lect at the time the word was introduced into Japanese
    Synonym: 音読 (ondoku)
    Antonyms: 訓読み (kun'yomi), 訓読 (kundoku) (a kanji reading based on the original Japanese word of that meaning)

#### Usage notes

As words written in kanji were brought to Japan at different times rather than all at once, each 音読み can be categorized as 呉音 (goon), 漢音 (kan'on), or 唐音 (tōon), among other subcategories, depending on the originating variety. Thus, the same kanji may be used to mean different things depending on the reading, reflecting the differences between the source Chinese varieties, such as 利益 which means profit when read with the 漢音 pronunciation りえき (rieki), but means Buddhist blessing or salvation when read with the 呉音 pronunciation りやく (riyaku).
音読み loosely corresponds to 漢語 (kango), with the former signifying the reading and the latter signifying the word itself.

#### See also

* 漢(かん)文(ぶん) (kanbun): Chinese writing, Chinese literature, Chinese classics
* 漢(かん)語(ご) (kango): a Chinese-derived word borrowed into Japanese generally before the 1300s (as opposed to more recent borrowings, usually classified as gairaigo)
* 外(がい)来(らい)語(ご) (gairaigo): a foreign word borrowed into Japanese generally in the 1300s or later

### Verb

音(おん)読(よ)みする • (on'yomi suru) suru (stem 音(おん)読(よ)みし (on'yomi shi), past 音(おん)読(よ)みした (on'yomi shita))
* to use the on'yomi of a word, to read a word using the pronunciation based on the original Chinese pronunciation

#### Conjugation

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") :
| Mizenkei ("imperfective") | 音読みし | おんよみし | on'yomi shi |
| Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | 音読みし | おんよみし | on'yomi shi |
| Shūshikei ("terminal") | 音読みする | おんよみする | on'yomi suru |
| Rentaikei ("attributive") | 音読みする | おんよみする | on'yomi suru |
| Kateikei ("hypothetical") | 音読みすれ | おんよみすれ | on'yomi sure |
| Meireikei ("imperative") | 音読みせよ¹ 音読みしろ² | おんよみせよ¹ おんよみしろ² | on'yomi seyo¹ on'yomi shiro² |
| Key constructions ||||
| Passive | 音読みされる | おんよみされる | on'yomi sareru |
| Causative | 音読みさせる 音読みさす | おんよみさせる おんよみさす | on'yomi saseru on'yomi sasu |
| Potential | 音読みできる | おんよみできる | on'yomi dekiru |
| Volitional | 音読みしよう | おんよみしよう | on'yomi shiyō |
| Negative | 音読みしない | おんよみしない | on'yomi shinai |
| Negative continuative | 音読みせず | おんよみせず | on'yomi sezu |
| Formal | 音読みします | おんよみします | on'yomi shimasu |
| Perfective | 音読みした | おんよみした | on'yomi shita |
| Conjunctive | 音読みして | おんよみして | on'yomi shite |
| Hypothetical conditional | 音読みすれば | おんよみすれば | on'yomi sureba |
| ¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ||||

### References

* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
* ↑ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN