tune, tone, meter, key (music)
Came from Chinese. It usually shows up when the kanji is joined to another, forming a compound word.
It is Japanese. It usually shows up when the kanji stands alone or is followed by hiragana.
The order matters: it is what makes handwriting come out legible, and it is how dictionaries index the character.
Visual decomposition, for recognising and comparing — not always the character's origin.
Where it appears is highlighted — the translation doesn't always make that visible.
先生、これ盲腸じゃないですか?調べたんですけど…
Sensei, kore mouchou ja nai desu ka? Shirabetan desu kedo...
Doctor, could this be appendicitis? I looked it up and...
本当に、何か特別な調味料でも？
Hontou ni, nanika tokubetsu na choumiryou demo?
Really, is there some special seasoning?
Readings and meanings: KANJIDIC2 · Decomposition: KRADFILE · Both from Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data from 2026-09-07 · Strokes: KanjiVG, Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0