犬
Dog
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| n/i | いぬ | 犬 |
Meaning: Dog
The dog radical and dog kanji are exactly the same!
Soon there will be very few kanji/radical-same combos … so enjoy it while you can.
Reading: n/i
The on’yomi reading for this kanji isn’t so important, so we’re going to skip it for now. You will probably see the on’yomi reading at some point in the future, but why learn it now if it’s not going to help us now?
Vocabulary
Learn the meanings (and readings, if you can) of these words before moving on.
a 犬（いぬ）＝ dog
- Meaning: The meaning is the same as the kanji.
- Reading: The reading is the same as the kun’yomi. I think this is a pretty common word for people interested in Japan to already know, so perhaps you already know it? If not, spend a few seconds trying to memorize it.
a 子犬（こいぬ）＝ puppy
- Combo: 子 (child) + 犬 (dog)
- Meaning: A child dog is a puppy. What if we called puppies “child dogs” in English? That’d be fun.
- Reading: Both of these are the kun’yomi readings, even though it’s a combo kanji vocab word, so make sure you keep that in mind