字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

reformation, change, modify, mend, renew, examine, inspect, search

On’yomi カイ
Kun’yomi あらた.める、あらた.まる

Origin

This character combines a sound hint on the left with an action indicator on the right. The left component 己 provides a pronunciation clue for the character. The right component 攵 is a reduced form of a character meaning "to hit" or "to strike," which suggests the idea of forceful change or action. Together, they create an image of striking something to reshape or renew it — capturing the sense of reformation and modification that the character carries today.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

改 7 strokes

Components

  • 己 sound hint left
  • 攵 radical right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 改革 かいかく reform; reformation
  • 改憲 かいけん constitutional change; revising the constitution
  • 改札 かいさつ examination of tickets
  • 改宗 かいしゅう religious conversion
  • 改修 かいしゅう repair; improvement
  • 改新 かいしん reformation
  • 改正 かいせい revision; amendment
  • 改選 かいせん election (for a seat or position at the end of a term)

Related kanji

Same sound component 己
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
7
Kangxi radical
66
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#147 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+06539