Meaning & readings
help, rescue, assist
On’yomi ジョ
Kun’yomi たす.ける、たす.かる、す.ける、すけ
Origin
The character combines two parts: on the left, 且 gives a sound hint that helps you pronounce the character as "jo," while on the right, 力 (meaning power or strength) acts as a meaning classifier showing this is about exerting force. Together they create a character that depicts the idea of using your strength to help someone — the power component signals that assistance involves active effort or support. The shape originally developed in Chinese writing to represent this concept of lending your strength to aid another person.
Common words
- 一助 いちじょ (some small) help; an aid
- 援助 えんじょ assistance; aid
- 救助 きゅうじょ relief; aid
- 互助 ごじょ mutual aid; cooperation
- 賛助 さんじょ support; patronage
- 助け たすけ assistance; help
- 助演 じょえん supporting performance; playing a supporting role
- 助詞 じょし particle; postpositional word in Japanese grammar that functions as an auxiliary to a main word
Reference
- Strokes
- 7
- Kangxi radical
- 19
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #397 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+052A9