Hi there, welcome to our one point lesson.
We would like to introduce you to some words in Japanese that have the same reading but different meaning. For example:
紙 (かみ) kami “paper”
髪 (かみ) kami “hair”
These two Kanji are different, but are spelled and pronounced the same. You have to figure out what the meaning is depending on the context. Here are other examples:
雲 (くも) kumo “cloud”
蜘蛛 (くも) kumo “spider”
花 (はな) hana “flower”
鼻 (はな) hana “nose”
川 (かわ) kawa “river”
皮 (かわ) kawa “skin” (animal and fruits)
恋 (こい) koi “love”
鯉 (こい) koi “carp”
歯 (は) ha “teeth”
葉 (は) ha “leaf”
Here are some other examples which are spelled the same but are pronounced differently.
箸 (はし) HAshi “chopsticks”
橋 (はし) haSHI “bridge”
For chopsticks, the accent is on the HA and the pitch is lowered for shi. For bridge on the other hand, the accent is on the SHI. Here are some more examples:
牡蠣 (かき) KAki “oyster”
柿 (かき) kaKI “persimmon”
雨 (あめ) Ame “rain”
飴 (あめ) aME “candy”
We hope this information is useful for you.
Have a nice weekend peeps!