字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

read

On’yomi ドク、トク、トウ
Kun’yomi よ.む、-よ.み
Nanori よみ

Origin

The kanji 読 combines the component 言, which means "words" or "speech," with 売 on the right side. The 売 component serves as a sound hint telling you roughly how to pronounce the character, rather than contributing to its meaning. Together, the shape represents the idea of "words" (言) combined with a sound indicator (売), creating a character that means "to read" — the act of processing and understanding written words. This is a common pattern in Japanese kanji where a meaning-related component pairs with a sound-related component to form a new character.

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

読 14 strokes

Components

  • 言 radical left
  • 売 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

  • 愛読 あいどく reading with pleasure
  • 音読 おんどく reading aloud
  • 解読 かいどく deciphering; decoding
  • 購読 こうどく buying and reading (book, magazine, etc.); subscribing (incl. free subscriptions)
  • 読み よみ reading
  • 読む よむ to read
  • 読者 どくしゃ reader
  • 読書 どくしょ reading (books)

Related kanji

Same sound component 売
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
14
Kangxi radical
149
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#618 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 4
Unicode
U+08AAD