半
Half
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| はん | n/i |  + 干 |
Meaning: Half
There’s a triceratops on top of the antennae… which is a problem, because when he’s there, you only get half of the channels on your TV.
One of the channels you do get has Star Wars on it, though. Feel a little happy about that. It’s the scene with the carbonite and Han Solo. Half of Han‘s body is sticking out of the carbonite.
Reading: はん
One of the channels you do get has Star Wars on it, though. Feel a little happy about that. It’s the scene with the carbonite and Han Solo. Half of Han‘s body is sticking out of the carbonite.
Hopefully you’ve seen Star Wars, and you know what Han Solo looks like coming out of the carbonite. Half of him is sticking out in that expression everyone knows and loves. It’s a very vivid picture, and focusing on it should help you to memorize the reading better as well. “Half of Han Solo.”
Vocabulary
Learn the meaning of these words before moving on (and learn/know the readings of some of them as well). There’s no good kun’yomi reading for this one, so that makes vocab even easier for you.
a 半分（はんぶん）＝ Half
- Combo: 半 (Half) + 分 (Part)
- Meaning: The half part is still half.
- Reading: The on’yomi readings of the two kanji, put together (so make sure you know your on’yomi).
a 大半（たいはん）＝ Majority, Mostly
- Combo: 大 (Big) + 半 (Half)
- Meaning: The big half is the majority half.
- Reading: Take the two on’yomi and put them together. You know they like it.
半生（はんせい）＝ Half a Lifetime
- Combo: 半 (Half) + 生 (Life)
- Meaning: Not to be confused with Half-Life the game, this is half a lifetime. Makes more sense, because I think Japan only had Half Life 1 back when these kanji were made. Half-Life 2 came out thousands of years later in 2004.
- Reading: On’yomi, put’em together.
a 半月（はんつき）＝ Half moon
- Combo: 半 (Half) + 月 (Moon)
- Meaning: Half a moon is a half moon.
- Reading: Strangely, half on’yomi half kun’yomi. Normally this doesn’t happen, I swear. Just sometimes you’ll have to remember weird readings like this one, so take a mental note.
a 半々（はんはん）＝ Half & Half
- Combo: 半 (Half) + 々 (Repeater Kanji = Half)
- Meaning: Half and half – not to be confused with the funny milk thing they have on diner tables. Just literally “half and half.”
- Reading: The on’yomi reading of 半, twice.