南
南 — South
south
On’yomiナン (nan)
On’yomiナ (na)
Kun’yomiみなみ (minami)
Stroke order (9 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 南
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 南 | みなみ minami | south |
| 南北 | なんぼく nanboku | north and south; north to south; South Korea and North Korea |
| 東南 | とうなん tounan | south-east |
| 南部 | なんぶ nanbu | southern part; the south (of a region) |
| 南アフリカ | みなみアフリカ minamiafurika | South Africa |
| 南西 | なんせい nansei | southwest |
Study notes
南 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #341 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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