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: (xanH) as per Japanese phonology, referring to the Han dynasty, which had Chang'an as its capital city.[1] Furthermore, Kan () 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

In consonants

type unvoiced / voiced voiced / nasal zi- / ni- or zy- / ny-
example 二児 人刃
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

type * / -e -ei / -ai * / -u
examples 会絵 快怪 仮家 下夏 西斉 体帝 公工口 豆頭 右有 九久
Kan-on i ki gi ai kai くゎい kwai ぐゎいgwai ka くゎkwa so to do 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 遠園 言厳 色拭
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 正生性声省精 成静 丁挺 平病 名命明 石赤 文聞
Kan-on 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
Japanese vowels

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Miyake, Marc Hideo (2003). Old Japanese: A Phonetic Reconstruction. Routledge. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-134-40373-8.