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currently trying hard to refresh my Kanji skills and stumbled over

お腹 == おなか

To my surprise none of the Kanji dictionaries list the reading なか for this Kanji. Only フク and はら. Is there a third category I am not aware of ?

Thx.

jarmanso7
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Oncaphillis
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1 Answers1

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Yes, that's the case. According to the Japanese Stage-Step Course: Writing Practice Book by Wako Tawa, page 206, 「お腹【なか】」is a 熟字訓【じゅくじくん】, i.e. a special kanji reading which is neither an 音読【おんよ】み nor a 訓読【くんよ】み. Please refer to this answer for more information on 熟字訓【じゅくじくん】.

jarmanso7
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    Is お腹 *widely* considered a 熟字訓? I thought 熟字訓 normally referred to terms comprising two or more kanji, in which a single, indivisible 訓読み is applied to the *whole.* Of course, お腹 can be written 御腹, but then clearly the first kanji is being read お and the second is being read なか. That seems rather different from cases like 紅葉{もみじ}, 昨日{きのう}, and 杜鵑{ほととぎす}, in which we can't say that part of the reading applies to the first kanji and part to the second. Why isn't お腹 (or 御腹) considered a case in which 腹 is simply given a non-standard reading, rather than as 熟字訓? – Nanigashi Jun 23 '19 at 17:34
  • I'm afraid I don't know the extent to which お腹 is considered a 熟字訓 or not. Let's wait for someone else with more knowledge on this to shed some light on it. I did research a bit and it seems as though the _etimology_ of the word 熟字訓 is "compound of kunyomi", but the actual _meaning_ of the word does not consider the fact that the reading is 訓 or not and it just means "kanji compound used for nouns by their meaning disregarding the sound". Please see the sections etimology and name [here](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%86%9F%E5%AD%97%E8%A8%93). – jarmanso7 Jun 24 '19 at 02:53
  • On other hand, fair point, お腹 is not a kanji compound but a single kanji word. As for your statement that 熟字訓 are those words where a 訓読み is extended to a whole compound, can you cite any source to back it up, so we can learn from it? Thank you! – jarmanso7 Jun 24 '19 at 02:54
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    Sure – see for example the definition of 熟字訓 in 大辞林: 漢字二字以上の熟字**全体に**、日本語の訓をあてて読むこと。また、その読み。「昨日（きのう）」「紅葉（もみじ）」「杜鵑（ほととぎす）」「羊歯（しだ）」の類。(Emphasis added) https://www.weblio.jp/content/熟字訓 Or in 学研国語大辞典: 二字以上が**一続きになってまとまった漢字**に対して与えられる訓。「昨日」に対する「きのう」、「海苔」に対する「のり」など。(Emphasis added). https://sakura-paris.org/dict/学研国語大辞典/prefix/熟字訓. 広辞苑 is less explicit on this point, but even so the *examples* of 熟字訓熟字訓 that it provides (私語{ささやき} and 五月雨{さみだれ}) seem instructive. https://sakura-paris.org/dict/広辞苑/prefix/熟字訓 – Nanigashi Jun 24 '19 at 17:00
  • Thank you very much. I wonder whether there's a more accurate term to label those words whose reading is not 音読み nor 訓読み and still they don't fit into this stricter 塾字訓 definiton? – jarmanso7 Jun 24 '19 at 17:35
  • I don't know the answer to that question, but I still don't really accept the premise that お腹{なか} *is* a case in which the reading is neither 音読み nor 訓読み . It seems more like なか is just being used as a 訓読み for 腹. It's a 表外 reading (that is, one not sanctioned by the 常用漢字表), to be sure, but to me that doesn't change the fact that it's a 訓読み. – Nanigashi Jun 24 '19 at 18:06
  • Well, according to the OP _none_ of the dictionaries he consulted lists なか as a 訓読み for 腹. We don't know if the resources he used include only the information sanctioned by the 常用漢字表 or not. I presume a 漢字 dictionary would go beyond that, but it's just my assumption. – jarmanso7 Jun 24 '19 at 18:48