12

Ordinal Number Prefix


Radical Combination


Meaning

Ordinal Number Prefix, Ordinal Prefix, Number

Mnemonic

Bamboo's younger brother is counted with an ordinal number prefix. An ordinal number is one that represents a position or rank in sequential order (like first, second, third, etc.). We use this ordinal number prefix before counting these things in Japanese sometimes. Like with bamboo, going down in order toward the youngest.

Imagine a line of bamboo shoots arranged from oldest to youngest. They look like pipe organ pipes, or a xylophone, and now you need to count them.


Reading

On'yomi

だい

Kun'yomi

None

Nanori

None

Mnemonic

To remember you need to use the ordinal number prefix before you count these bamboo, you dye (だい) them.

Now they're in descending order already, and you can count them nice and easy thanks to your dye method.


Visually Similar Kanji


Found In Vocabulary