Kan-on

Kan'on is also a Japanese name for the goddess Guanyin.

Kan-on or kan'on (漢音かんおん, 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 (唐音とういん, Tang sound), which were later phonetic loans.

Kan-on are on'yomi (音読おんよみ) based on the central Chang'an pronunciation of Middle Chinese. The syllable Kan is a reading of Middle Chinese: 漢かん (xan^H) as per Japanese phonology, referring to the Han dynasty, which had Chang'an as its capital city. Furthermore, Kan (漢かん) 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."

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.

Characteristics as compared to go-on

In consonants

type	unvoiced / voiced						voiced / nasal					zi- / ni- or zy- / ny-
example	神かみ	大だい	土ど	地ち	分ぶん	仏ふつ	男おとこ	女おんな	万まん	美よし	無む	二に児じ	人ひと刃ば	日ひ	如	若わか
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	衣ころも	気き	戯おどけ	愛あい	解かい	会かい絵え	快かい怪かい	外そと	仮かり家いえ	下しも夏なつ	化か	花はな	西にし斉ひとし	体からだ帝みかど	米べい	礼れい	素もと	図ず	怒いか	公おおやけ工こう口こう	豆まめ頭あたま	右みぎ有ゆう	九きゅう久ひさ	留とめ
Kan-on	i	ki	gi	ai	kai	くゎい kwai		ぐゎいgwai	ka		くゎkwa		sē	tē	bē	rē	so	to	do	kō	tō	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	音おと隠かくれ	今金いまかね	品しな	乙おつ	乞	遠とお園えん	建けん	言げん厳げん	越こし	叛	発はつ	行くだり	客きゃく	白しろ	色いろ拭ぬぐえ	食しょく	直じき	力ちから
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	京きょう経けい	形かたち	正せい生せい性せい声こえ省しょう精せい	成なり静せい	丁ちょう挺てい	定じょう	兵へい	平たいら病びょう	名めい命いのち明あきら	霊れい	役やく	石いし赤あか	寂さび	暦こよみ	牛うし	月つき	殺ころせ	文ぶん聞
Kan-on	kē		sē		tē		hē		mē	rē	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

• On'yomi: Sino-Japanese readings
  • Go-on: an earlier type of reading
  • Tō-on: a later type of reading
• Checked tone