口
Mouth
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| こう | くち | 口 |
Meaning: Mouth
The kanji and the radical that look like this are exactly the same. They are both mouth.
As long as you know the radical mouth you know the kanji mouth.
Reading: こう
To remember the sound こう we use the name こういち – Think of a mouth (that should be easy). Now, change it into the scariest mouth you can imagine. Perhaps the teeth are a foot long but just as skinny… or, the lips are bleeding and crispy… whatever scares you, think of it. Then, pan back away from the mouth to see who’s mouth it is. Turns out it’s こういち’s mouth.
Make sure to vividly imagine that disgusting mouth on こういち. He needs some facial upkeep, I think.
Vocabulary
Learn the meanings of these vocab words before moving on. They’re all particularly good examples of how you figure out the readings of different kinds of words, even if you’re not sure of what the meanings are ahead of time.
a 口（くち）＝ mouth
- Meaning: The meaning is the same as the kanji.
- Reading: The reading is the kun’yomi, as it should be, because it’s a vocab that consists of just a kanji all alone out in the open. The only mnemonic I can think of for this one is half a dirty joke, so I’ll let you try to come up with your own to remember that 口 = くち.
a 入り口（いりぐち）＝ entrance
- Combo: 入 (enter) + 口 (mouth)
- Meaning: The mouth you enter is an “entrance”. Think of a door – it’s basically just a mouth in the wall that you go in, right?
- Reading: See how there’s a bit of hiragana attached to the 入? That tells you it’s almost certainly going to be one of the kun’yomi readings of 入, though this one is a little different than the ones you learned before (it’s a modification of 入れる). Because the first part of the word is kun’yomi, the second part is probably kun’yomi as well (and it is). That’s how you know the reading for this kanji is いりぐち. It’ll get easier to do this over time, don’t worry!
a 人口（じんこう）＝ population
- Combo: 人 (person) + 口 (mouth)
- Meaning: People mouths are the mouths on people – these are folks who can speak and affect things. This is the Population.
- Reading: Because it’s two kanji put together with no hiragana attached, you can bet it’s going to use the on’yomi reading. So, as long as you know the on’yomi readings for these two kanji (and you should) you should be able to figure out the reading for this vocab as well! Try it later when you see it in your flashcards.