Meaning & readings
constitution, law
Origin
This character combines a heart radical at the bottom, which suggests something related to inner principles or moral character, with a sound component at the top that indicates the pronunciation "ken." The heart element makes sense because laws and constitutions are thought of as foundational principles that guide a society's values and conduct. The upper component serves mainly to hint at how the character is pronounced rather than to add meaning. Together, the shape represents a rule or law that flows from a community's shared heart or fundamental values.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).
Components
- 宀+2+3+2+2+罒
- 心
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 16
- Kangxi radical
- 61
- Grade
- Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #551 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+061B2