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.
お昼頃かしらね。あ、でも…最近携帯の調子が悪くて。
Ohiru goro kashira ne. A, demo... saikin keitai no choushi ga warukute.
Around noon, maybe. Oh, but... my phone's been acting up lately.
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 2026-10-22 · Strokes: KanjiVG, Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0