smujohnson wrote:

Hi...

今日 means きょう, (today).  But as far as I know, none of the kunyomi / onyomi / mixed combinations if you look up the readings for these 2 kanji's make "kyou" come together.

Is this an example of an exception in Japanese readings?  If so, how many more of these tricky devils are there?  This would be a good argument to use the AJATT method, if this is the case.

Please shed some light on this... anyone!

It's the same as strange kanji like 雪崩 or 素人.

smujohnson wrote:

Is this an example of an exception in Japanese readings?  If so, how many more of these tricky devils are there?

Here's a list of ateji adapted from the book "The Complete Guide to Everyday Kanji" by Habein & Mathias.
The original data is from government-approved irregular readings for Joyo kanji.
The starred* entries are on the JLPT test level 2 vocabulary list. These should, on the whole, be more common/ useful to learn.
           
明日    あす    tomorrow    *
小豆    あずき    red bean   
海女、 海士    あま    woman diver   
硫黄    いおう    sulphur   
意気地    いくじ    spirit   
田舎    いなか    the country    *
息吹    いぶき    breath   
海原    うなばら    the wide sea   
乳母    うば    wet nurse   
浮気    うわき    inconstancy        
浮つく    うわつく    be flippant   
笑顔    えがお    a smiling face, a smile   
叔父、 伯父    おじ    uncle    *
大人    おとな    adult    *
乙女    おとめ    maiden   
叔母、 伯母    おば    aunt    *
お巡りさん    おまわりさん    policeman    *
お神酒    おみき    sacred sake   
母屋 、母家    おもや    main house   
母さん    かあさん    mother    *
神楽    かぐら    kagura; Shinto music and dance   
河岸    かし    riverside   
鍛冶    かじ    forging, smithery   
風邪    かぜ    a cold    *
固唾    かたず    hold one’s breath, with bated breath   
蚊帳    かや    mosquito net   
為替    かわせ    exchange    *
河原、 川原    かわら    dry riverbed   
昨日    きのう    yesterday    *
今日    きょう    today    *
果物    くだもの    fruit    *
玄人    くろうと    expert        
今朝    けさ    this morning    *
景色    けしき    scene    *
心地    ここち    feeling        
居士    こじ    a Buddhist layman, person’s posthumous Buddhist name   
今年    ことし    this year    *
早乙女    さおとめ    rice-planting girl   
差し支える    さしつかえる    to have trouble        
桟敷    さじき    gallery   
五月    さつき    May   
早苗    さなえ    rice sprouts   
五月雨    さみだれ    early summer rain   
雑魚    ざこ    small fish   
時雨    しぐれ    drizzling rain in early winter   
尻尾    しっぽ    tail   
竹刀    しない    bamboo sword   
老舗    しにせ    long-established store   
芝生    しばふ    lawn    *
清水    しみず    clear water   
三味線    しゃみせん    shamisen        
白髪    しらが    white hair    *
素人    しろうと    amateur    *
師走    しわす    December   
砂利    じゃり    gravel        
数珠    じゅず    rosary   
上手    じょうず    skillfullness    *
数寄屋、 数奇屋    すきや    teahouse, tea ceremony room/ pavillion   
相撲    すもう    sumo    *
草履    ぞうり    sandals    *
太刀    たち    sword   
立ち退く    たちのく    move out   
七夕    たなばた    Festival of the Weaver   
山車    だし    float   
足袋    たび    tabi; Japanese socks    *
稚児    ちご    child in a festival procession   
一日    ついたち    the first day of a month    *
築山    つきやま    miniature hill in a garden   
梅雨    つゆ    rainy season    *
手伝う    てつだう    help with    *
伝馬船    てんません    barge   
凸凹    でこぼこ    unevenness    *
投網    とあみ    cast net   
父さん    とうさん    father    *
十重二十重    とえはたえ    ten and twenty fold   
時計    とけい    clock    *
友達    ともだち    friend    *
読経    どきょう    sutra chanting   
仲人    なこうど    go-between        
名残    なごり    (sorrow of) parting, traces, remains        
雪崩    なだれ    snowslide        
兄さん    にいさん    elder brother, Young man!    *
姉さん    ねえさん    elder sister, Miss!    *
野良    のら    farm   
祝詞    のりと    Shinto prayer   
博士    はかせ    doctor, expert, learned person    *
二十、 二十歳    はたち    twenty years old    *
二十日    はつか    twenty days, the twentieth day of a month    *
波止場    はとば    wharf, pier   
一人    ひとり    one person    *
日和    ひより    weather   
二人    ふたり    two persons    *
二日    ふつか    two days, the second day of a month    *
吹雪    ふぶき    snowstorm    *
下手    へた    unskillfulness    *
部屋    へや    room    *
迷子    まいご    lost child    *
真面目    まじめ    serious, earnest    *
真っ赤    まっか    deep red    *
真っ青    まっさお    deep blue    *
土産    みやげ    souvenir    *
息子    むすこ    son    *
眼鏡    めがね    glasses    *
猛者    もさ    stalwart man   
紅葉    もみじ    maple; autumn tints    *
木綿    もめん    cotton    *
最寄り    もより    the nearest   
八百長    やおちょう    fixed fight   
八百屋    やおや    greengrocer    *
大和    やまと    Japan   
弥生    やよい    March, Yayoi period   
浴衣    ゆかた    summer kimono    *
行方    ゆくえ    whereabouts    *
寄席    よせ    variety house (sim. to music-hall, vaudeville)   
若人    わこうど    youth

Edit: Included changes from the updated Joyo kanji list in 2010.

Last edited by Katsuo (2011 April 16, 9:43 am)

Ok, that's quite a large list you guy(s) have posted.

I'm almost regretting ordering RTK2 and just doing AJATT's method.  I had a feeling something like this would happen!!

Is that a comprehensive complete list, or are there still MORE of these things kicking around.

Tobberoth wrote:

if you thought you could simply learn the on'yomi (chinese readings) of the kanji and then simply read... well, you thought wrong

The whole point of this thread I started is because these readings are not kun-yomi readings, either.  Neither "kun", nor "on" readings encompass these exceptions.

That's right. You just learn them as words comprising multiple characters, just like you learned that "who" is pronounced "hoo" in spite of how it's written.

Think about what the words on and kun mean anyway. "On" means "sound", the intrinsic sound of the kanji the Japanese borrowed from the Chinese. "Kun" means "taught", the reading that was artificially assigned to the kanji that you have to be taught so you can read it.

OK then, think of ateji as a sort of kun reading that applies to character compounds instead of individual characters.

(Of course some of the words in the list are actually modified on readings or combinations of on + kun but don't let that worry you for now.)

Last edited by Raichu (2008 December 24, 4:55 am)

Tobberoth wrote:

If you didn't know allready, all kanji have kun'yomi, Japanese readings.

Well, not all. There are plenty of kanji with on-yomi only.

--------

In addition to these jukugo with strange readings, there are a few words where one or more of the kanji don't seem to have any reading at all!

Like 百舌鳥　(pronounced もず) - which one is the も, which one is the ず, and which one has no reading?!?

I've never looked at RTK2, but I'd say that the AJATT method is a pretty good bet for remembering readings of characters. Not only are the readings easier to remember in context, but I think you'll find that the readings aren't as hard to remember as the meaning and writing.

EnjukuBlack wrote:

Like 百舌鳥　(pronounced もず) - which one is the も, which one is the ず, and which one has no reading?!?

Looks like 百舌 is もず and the 鳥 is just added to emphasize the meaning.