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Kanji with ambiguous readings - Zarxrax - 2008-07-09
家 can be read as either いえ or うち when used alone. So when you come across it in a sentence, how do you know which reading to use? You could say context, but both have very similar meanings! Does it even matter?
What are some other kanji that might cause confusion like this?
Kanji with ambiguous readings - JimmySeal - 2008-07-09
止める can be read as とめる or やめる, though it usually has furigana in the case of やめる.
開く can be either ひらく or あく
similarly 開ける could be ひらける or あける.
Kanji with ambiguous readings - alyks - 2008-07-09
Zarxrax Wrote:家 can be read as either いえ or うち when used alone. So when you come across it in a sentence, how do you know which reading to use? You could say context, but both have very similar meanings! Does it even matter?I'm not sure, but uchi is pretty uncommon for that kanji. Try to understand the differences between the words if the kanji is ambiguous.
What are some other kanji that might cause confusion like this?
Kanji with ambiguous readings - phauna - 2008-07-10
In another thread it was discussed, and uchi is usually always written in hiragana, whereas ie is always a kanji. So if it's a kanji, read it as ie, and also note the context and who's speaking. Uchi is always your house, ie is just houses in general, or another's house.
Kanji with ambiguous readings - mystes - 2008-07-10
Verbs where the different readings have different meanings:
埋める: うめる, うずめる
濯ぐ: そそぐ, すすぐ, ゆすぐ
叩く: はたく, たたく
被る: かぶる, こうむる
潜る: くぐる, もぐる
There are definitely a lot more, but it's hard to just sit down and remember everything with ambiguous readings.
Edit: Verbs where the meaning is subtly different are the most obnoxious case, but there are also compounds where there is an on and kun reading. For example:
気質: きしつ, かたぎ
微睡む: まどろむ, びすいむ
Kanji with ambiguous readings - kanjapan - 2008-07-10
uchi written in hiragana can also mean "my". An often heard phrase is 「うちの家内」, meaning "My wife". You can find plenty example sentences on space alc:
http://eow.alc.co.jp/%e3%81%86%e3%81%a1%e3%81%ae/UTF-8/?ref=sa
Kanji with ambiguous readings - mystes - 2008-07-10
One additional usage of うち: it is a first person pronoun used by girls.