420 CE - Present
The kun'yomi (訓読み "meaning reading"), the native reading, is a reading based on the pronunciation of a native Japanese word, that closely approximated the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced.
For instance, the character for east, 東, has the on'yomi tō, from Middle Chinese tung.However, Japanese already had two words for "east": higashi and azuma.
Thus the kanji 東 had the latter readings added as kun'yomi.
Gairaigo (外来語) is Japanese for "loan word" or "borrowed word", and indicates a transliteration into Japanese.
In particular, the word usually refers to a Japanese word of foreign origin that was not borrowed in ancient times from Old or Middle Chinese, but in modern times, primarily from English or other European languages.
Jukujikun (熟字訓) are readings of kanji combinations that have no direct correspondence to the characters' individual on'yomi or kun'yomi.
Jukujikun are when the standard kanji for a word are related to the meaning, but not the sound.
Examples
| Type | Jukujikun | Hiragana | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 今日 | きょう | kyō | Today |
| Number | 一人 | ひとり | hitori | One man |
| Number | 二日 | ふつか | futsuka | Second day of the month |
| Season | 梅雨 | つゆ | tsuyu | Rainy season |
| Plant | 小豆 | あずき | azuki | Red bean |