字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

offering, counter for drinks, present, offer

On’yomi ケン、コン
Kun’yomi たてまつ.る

Origin

This character appears to be phono-semantic, combining a sound hint with a meaning component. The right side, the radical for dog, is unusual here and most likely indicates an ancient meaning connection to animals or sacrifice rather than dogs themselves. The left side, which looks like "south," provides the sound hint for how the character is pronounced. Over time, the character's meaning shifted toward the general sense of offering or presenting something, which fits with the original concept of making a ritual offering or gift.

献 13 strokes

Components

  • 南 sound hint left
  • 犬 radical right

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

Common words

  • 献金 けんきん donation; contribution
  • 献血 けんけつ blood donation
  • 献上 けんじょう presenting (to)
  • 献立 こんだて menu; bill of fare
  • 貢献 こうけん contribution (furthering a goal or cause); services (to a cause)
  • 文献 ぶんけん literature; books (reference)
  • 献花 けんか flower offering; floral tribute

Related kanji

Same sound component 南
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
13
Kangxi radical
94
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#637 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+0732E