【母】(haha, bo/ mother) Japanese Kanji / JLPT N5

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In this time, I will introduce the Kanji character 母.

How to read

① Onyomi (Chinese reading)

The on-readings are
・ぼ　bo
・も　mo

For example,
・母国　ぼこく　bo-koku
It means native country

・母語　ぼご　bo-go
It means native language

・母子　ぼし　bo-shi
It means mother and child
・母子家庭　ぼしかてい　bo-shi ka-tei
It means fatherless family

・母乳　ぼにゅう　bo-nyū
It means mother's milk

and so on.

② Kunyomi (Japanese reading)

Next, the kun-reading is
・はは　haha

For example,
・母　はは　haha
It means mother
This is a formal expression
・母と父　ははとちち　haha to chichi
mother and father

・母親　ははおや　haha-oya
It also means mother
Mainly used to talk about other people's parents
・母親と父親　ははおやとちちおや　haha-oya to chichi-oya
mother and father

and so on.

③ Special reading

Next is a special reading.
・お母さん　おかあさん　o-kā-san
It means mother
This is a casual expression

・伯母／叔母　おば　oba
It means aunt
伯母 is one's parents' elder sister
叔母 is one's parents' younger sister

・母屋　おもや　omoya
It means main building (of a manor)

Meanings

Next is the meaning of the kanji for 母.
This kanji is used in the next meanings
・mother

Radical

And the radical of this character is 毋　nakare
This character itself is a radical, a basic character.

Family name

Next, I will introduce family names. Here are some family names that are particularly common in Japan.
・田母神　たもがみ　Tamogami
・石母田　いしもだ　Ishimoda

Personal name

There are no specific well-known personal names using the Kanji for 母

Famous person

Next, I will introduce Japanese celebrities who use the Kanji 母
・西郷 頼母　さいごうたのも　Saigou Tanommo
He is an Edo-era politician.

Place

Next, I will introduce place names and tourist attractions that use the Chinese character for 母.
・母島　ははじま　haha-jima
It is an island in the Ogasawara Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The Ogasawara Islands are registered as a World Heritage Site.

・雑司ヶ谷鬼子母神堂　ぞうしがやきしもじんどう　Zoushigaya Kishimojin-dou
It is the name of a temple in Tokyo.

・挙母市　ころもし　Koromo-shi
It is the name of a city once located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
It has been renamed and is now Toyota City.
It is the home of the automaker Toyota.

Look-alikes

Here are some kanji that are similar to 母
・毎　ごと、まい　goto, mai
It means each

Containing its kanji

Here are some kanji that contain character 母 in their composition
・苺　いちご　ichigo
It means strawberry

↓Other kanji characters can be found in the list here↓

Tags

Tap or click to see a list of related Kanji pages.