Meaning & readings

post, employment, work

On’yomi ショク、ソク
Nanori もと

Origin

This character combines the ear radical on the left, which classifies characters related to hearing and attention, with a sound hint on the right that suggests the pronunciation. The ear component hints at the idea of listening to or attending to one's duties and responsibilities. Over time, the character came to mean a post or job — something you must attend to and listen to instructions about. The sound component provides the pronunciation guide rather than adding to the meaning.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

18 strokes

Components

  • radical left
  • sound hint right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 汚職 おしょく corruption (esp. by a government employee); bribery
  • 休職 きゅうしょく temporary retirement; leave of absence
  • 求職 きゅうしょく job hunting; seeking employment
  • 現職 げんしょく present post; current office
  • 公職 こうしょく public office
  • 在職 ざいしょく being in office; holding a position
  • 辞職 じしょく resignation
  • 就職 しゅうしょく finding employment; getting a job

Reference

Strokes
18
Kangxi radical
128
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#305 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+08077