Kan-on
Kan-on or kan'on (漢音, Japanese pronunciation: [kaꜜɰ̃.oɴ] or [kaɰ̃.oɴ], "Han sound") are Japanese kanji readings borrowed from Chinese during the Tang dynasty, from the 7th to the 9th centuries; a period which corresponds to the Japanese Nara period. They were introduced by, among others, envoys from Japanese missions to Tang China. Kan-on should not be confused with tō-on (唐音, Tang sound), which were later phonetic loans.
Kan-on are on'yomi (音読み) based on the central Chang'an pronunciation of Middle Chinese.[1] The syllable Kan is a reading of Middle Chinese: 漢 (xanH) as per Japanese phonology, referring to the Han dynasty, which had Chang'an as its capital city.[1] Furthermore, Kan (漢) has also become a description for all things Chinese, e.g., kanji ('Chinese characters').
Kan'on partly displaced the earlier go-on, which were "just imitations of Korean imitations, but Kan-on were imitations of the real thing."[1]
A minority of characters never had their kan-on transmitted to Japan; their kan-on are sometimes reconstructed in Japanese dictionaries although not specifically marked as such. A few dictionaries go as far as to discard attested kan-on in favour of more systematic pronunciations.[1]
Characteristics as compared to go-on
[edit]In consonants
[edit]type | unvoiced / voiced | voiced / nasal | zi- / ni- or zy- / ny- | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
example | 神 | 大 | 土 | 地 | 分 | 仏 | 男 | 女 | 万 | 美 | 無 | 二児 | 人刃 | 日 | 如 | 若 | ||
Kan-on | ɕin | tai | to | tɕi | fun | futsu | dan | dʑo | ban | bi | bu | dʑi | dʑin | dʑitsu | dʑo | dʑaku | ||
Go-on | dʑin | dai | do | dʑi | bun | butsu | nan | njo | man | mi | mu | ni | nin | nitɕi | njo | njaku | ||
notes | d- / n- | b- / m- | Mandarin r-, er |
In vowels
[edit]type | * / -e | -ei / -ai | * / -u | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
examples | 衣 | 気 | 戯 | 愛 | 解 | 会絵 | 快怪 | 外 | 仮家 | 下夏 | 化 | 花 | 西斉 | 体帝 | 米 | 礼 | 素 | 図 | 怒 | 公工口 | 豆頭 | 右有 | 九久 | 留 |
Kan-on | i | ki | gi | ai | kai | くゎい kwai | ぐゎいgwai | ka | くゎkwa | sē | tē | bē | rē | so | to | do | kō | tō | iu | kiu | riu | |||
Go-on | e | ke | ge | e | ge | ue/we | ke | ge | ke | ge | ke | sai | tai | mai | rai | su | zu | nu | ku | zu | u | ku | ru | |
Notes | Mandarin -i |
Type | -i- / -o- | -e- / -o- | -a- / -o- | -a- / -ya- | -yoku / -iki | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Examples | 音隠 | 今金 | 品 | 乙 | 乞 | 遠園 | 建 | 言厳 | 越 | 叛 | 発 | 行 | 客 | 白 | 色拭 | 食 | 直 | 力 |
Kan-on | in | kin | hin | itsu | kitsu | uen/wen | ken | gen | uetsu/wetsu | han | hatsu | kau | kaku | haku | ɕoku | tɕoku | rjoku | |
Go-on | on | kon | hon | otsu | kotsu | won/on | kon | gon | otɕi/wotɕi | hon | hotsu | gjō | kjaku | bjaku | ɕiki | dʑiki | dʑiki | riki |
Notes |
Type | -e- / -ya- | others | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Examples | 京経 | 形 | 正生性声省精 | 成静 | 丁挺 | 定 | 兵 | 平病 | 名命明 | 霊 | 役 | 石赤 | 寂 | 暦 | 牛 | 月 | 殺 | 文聞 |
Kan-on | kē | sē | tē | hē | mē | rē | eki | seki | reki | giu | getsu | satsu | bun | |||||
Go-on | kjō | gjō | ɕō | dʑō | tɕō | dʑō | hjō | bjō | mjō | rjō | jaku | ɕaku | dʑaku | rjaku | gu | gwatsu | setsu | mon |
Notes | Mandarin -ing zheng, cheng, sheng |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Japanese_%28standard%29_vowels.svg/220px-Japanese_%28standard%29_vowels.svg.png)
See also
[edit]- On'yomi: Sino-Japanese readings
- Checked tone
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Miyake, Marc Hideo (2003). Old Japanese: A Phonetic Reconstruction. Routledge. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-134-40373-8.