言 — “to say / word” in Japanese

Grade 2げん, ごん, い, こと

Radical ⾔ · radical 149 The building block this kanji is filed under

“to say / word” in Japanese is 言, read gen, gon, i (げん, ごん, い, こと). It is a Grade 2 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 2 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 言葉 (language/word).

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What does 言 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	言
Meaning	to say / word
Readings	げん, ごん, い, こと
Grade	Grade 2 (Easy)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	言葉 (language/word)

How to read 言

言 is read gen (げん) or gon (ごん) or i (い) or koto (こと) depending on the word.

Words with 言

言及げんきゅう
言葉
宣言

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Kanji read the same way as 言

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Updated: 2026-08-28