言 — to say / word

Grade 2げん, ごん, い, こと

Radical ⾔ · radical 149 The building block this kanji is filed under

言 (readings: げん, ごん, い, こと; Japanese kanji) means “to say / word”. It is a Grade 2 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 2 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 言葉 (language/word).

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What does 言 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	言
Meaning	to say / word
Readings	げん, ごん, い, こと
Grade	Grade 2 (Easy)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	言葉 (language/word)

How to read 言

言 is read げん or ごん or い or こと depending on the word.

Words with 言

言及げんきゅうđề cập
言葉ngôn ngữ
宣言tuyên bố

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Updated: 2026-08-09