名
Name, Famous
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| めい, みょう | な | 夕 + 口 |
Meaning: Name, Famous
“What is the “evening mouth”? Imagine a mouth that’s up in the night sky. It’s just there, talking, and only comes out at night. It only appears in one area of the world (what area would you choose? Imagine yourself going to that place to see the “night mouth.”), and appears only one month out of the year (more on this in a second). The “evening mouth” is the most famous thing in the _____ area (this is the area you choose). He’s so famous that everybody knows his name (“Evening Mouth.”).
Imagine yourself going to the area you chose, and watching “Evening Mouth” speak. There are thousands of others there, wanting to see the giant floating mouth in the night sky. “Evening Mouth” then says “Everyone, what’s my name!?” and everyone shouts back “Evening Mouth!” in unison. “Evening Mouth” has certainly gotten really famous.
Reading: めい, みょう
So, when does “Evening Mouth” appear? Turns out, “Evening Mouth” only comes out to talk in May (めい). You know this because it’s just starting to be spring, and when you look around (you’re watching “Evening Mouth” again) you see some spring flowers come up.
You know what they say. April showers bring May Flowers. What do May Flowers bring? They bring “Evening Mouth,” baby.
Vocabulary
Learn the vocab before moving on – the next kanji, 字, actually has a new word with this kanji as well. How convenient!
a 名人（めいじん）＝ Master
- Combo: 名 (famous) + 人 (person)
- Meaning: Someone who is a famous person, or someone who has a name for themselves is probably a master at something, right?
- Reading: The on’yomi readings of the kanji.
a 名札（なふだ）＝ Name Tag
- Combo: 名 (name) + 札 (tag, bill)
- Meaning: Wow, it doesn’t get better than this.
- Reading: The kun’yomi readings, actually. One hint as to why this is kun’yomi is because the two separate kanji are kind of like separate words, like in the word “name tag” as well. “Name tag” is kind of like one word, but it’s also kind of like two words. For the kanji, it’s the same way, which is probably why it uses the kun’yomi reading.