字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

hear, ask, listen

On’yomi ブン、モン
Kun’yomi き.く、き.こえる

Origin

The character combines the ear radical 耳, which directly represents the body part used for hearing, with the gate 門 component that provides a sound hint for pronunciation. The ear makes clear what the character is about, while 門 helps speakers remember roughly how to say it. Over time, the character came to encompass not just the physical act of hearing but also listening intently and asking questions — all things done through the ear and attention.

聞 14 strokes

Components

  • 門 sound hint enclosure
  • 耳 radical

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

Common words

  • 見聞 けんぶん information; experience
  • 醜聞 しゅうぶん scandal
  • 新聞 しんぶん newspaper
  • 聞く きく to hear
  • 聴聞 ちょうもん listening; hearing
  • 新聞紙 しんぶんし newsprint; newspaper used for wrapping, packing, etc.
  • 新聞社 しんぶんしゃ newspaper company
  • 聞かす きかす to let (someone) hear; to tell (e.g. a story)

Related kanji

Same sound component 門
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
14
Kangxi radical
128
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#319 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 4
Unicode
U+0805E