Onyomi: メイ · Kunyomi: な.く, な.らす, な.る · Meanings: bark, chirp, cry, echo, honk, ring, sound
Kanji for bark, chirp, cry, echo, honk
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The kanji 鳴 is made of two parts: 口 (mouth) and 鳥 (bird). Long ago, this showed a bird opening its mouth to make a sound. Because of that, the meaning became “to make a sound” — like a bird singing, a dog barking, or any animal crying out. It’s all about voices and natural sounds.
Made from the mouth (口) and bird (鳥). It shows a bird using its mouth to make a sound — to sing, cry, or call.
This kanji says: when the bird (鳥) opens its mouth (口), it sings — 鳴 means to make a sound or cry out.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 鳴く | なく | to make sound (of an animal), to call, to cry, to whine, to sing, to chirp | common JLPT-N5 Godan verb with 'ku' ending, Intransitive verb |
| 鳴る | なる | to sound, to ring, to resound, to echo, to roar, to rumble | common JLPT-N4 Godan verb with 'ru' ending, Intransitive verb |
| 鳴らす | ならす | to ring, to sound, to chime, to beat, to snort (nose), to snap (fingers), to crack (joints) | common JLPT-N2 Godan verb with 'su' ending, Transitive verb |
| 鳴き声 | なきごえ | cry (of an animal), call, chirp, song, caw, roar, bark, yelp, meow | common Noun |
| 鳴り物入り | なりものいり | flourish of trumpets, fanfare | Noun |
| 鳴管 | めいかん | syrinx (part of a bird), lower larynx | Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 鳴り出す | なりだす | to begin making a sound (ringing, singing, crying, etc.) | Godan verb with 'su' ending |
| 鳴り響く | なりひびく | to reverberate, to resound, to echo | Godan verb with 'ku' ending, Intransitive verb |
| 鳴門 | なると | strait with a roaring tidal ebb and flow, whirlpool, maelstrom | common Noun |
| 鳴り | なり | ringing, sound | common Noun |
| 鳴子 | なるこ | clapper | Noun |
| 鳴門教育大学 | なるときょういくだいがく | Naruto University of Education | Noun |
| 鳴門巻 | なるとまき | kamaboko with a spiral whirlpool-like pattern | Noun |
| 油蝉 | あぶらぜみ | large brown cicada (Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata), aburazemi | Noun |
| 鳴嚢 | めいのう | vocal sac (on frog) | Noun |