曲
曲 — Bend
bend, music, melody, composition, pleasure, injustice
On’yomiキョク (kyoku)
Kun’yomiまがる (magaru)
Kun’yomiまげる (mageru)
Kun’yomiくま (kuma)
Stroke order (6 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 曲
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 曲 | きょく kyoku | composition; piece of music; song |
| 作曲 | さっきょく sakkyoku | composition (of music); setting; writing music |
| 協奏曲 | きょうそうきょく kyousoukyoku | concerto |
| 交響曲 | こうきょうきょく koukyoukyoku | symphony |
| 歌曲 | かきょく kakyoku | melody; tune; song |
| 戯曲 | ぎきょく gikyoku | drama; play; Chinese opera |
Study notes
曲 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 6 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #810 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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