Jinzoningen kanji question

[Jord]

After reading the VegettoEX update and looking at the Kanji a question popped up. POP!

Why do the Nin and Jin parts have the same Kanji and how can you read the difference when you're reading a text with that Kanji?

[DBW]

"Jin" and "nin" are alternate readings for the kanji, which is read "hito" on it's own. When the kanji is put with other kanji, it forms compounds, and thus alternate words. So how do you know when to use each form? Know the language! The kanji 「人造」 are read "jinzou" and mean "artificial". It's just something you grow to learn.

Lots of kanji compounds are pretty logical though, so if you know the individual kanji, and you know the word, a lot of the time the reading will just be obvious. ie. Flower (hana) + Fire (hi) = Fireworks (hanabi), etc.

[Daimao]

Exactly. Consider the following English sentences:

I read the newspaper every day.
I read the newspaper yesterday.

Why is the word "read" pronounced differently in those two sentences? It's just how the language is, so you have to pick up on that.

[*PINHEAD*]

Well, the first sentence could be read like "I read (red) the newspaper every day," if you think of it as referring to a specific time, like "During the summer, I read the newspaper every day."

Or I'm wrong.


And Dragon Ball has those small katakana and/or hiragana or whatnot next to the Kanji anyway, so that's how I tell the difference.

[Dayspring]

Well, the first sentence could be read like "I read (red) the newspaper every day," if you think of it as referring to a specific time, like "During the summer, I read the newspaper every day."

Ah, but look how you had to edit the sentence to make that read in the past tense.