Meaning & readings
teach, faith, doctrine
On’yomi キョウ
Kun’yomi おし.える、おそ.わる
Nanori のり、ひさ
Origin
The character 教 combines a sound hint with a meaning classifier. The left component 孝 (filial piety) doesn't contribute meaning here — it's mainly a pronunciation guide that suggests how the character should sound. The right component 攵 is a small version of the radical for "action" or "movement," which classifies 教 as an action-related character. Together they create a character meaning to teach or pass on teachings — fitting for a word associated with transmitting knowledge and doctrines through deliberate instruction.
Components
- 孝
- 攵
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 11
- Kangxi radical
- 66
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #166 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+06559