Kanji 歌

音読おんよみ:

訓読くんよみ: うた・うた

画数かくすう: 14 strokes

部首ぶしゅ: 欠(あくび)

Meaning

Song / to sing / poetry

  • うたう — to sing
  • 歌手かしゅ — singer
  • 歌詞かし — lyrics
  • 歌声うたごえ — singing voice
  • 国歌こっか — national anthem
  • 歌舞伎かぶき — Kabuki (traditional Japanese theater)
  • 歌謡曲かようきょく — popular song

The character 歌 combines “to sing or recite” with the radical 欠, which originally meant “open mouth” or “yawn.” Together they express the act of singing or vocalizing — and later came to mean “song” or “poetry.”

うたうたうのがきです。
I like singing songs.

かれ有名ゆうめい歌手かしゅです。
He is a famous singer.

手
Creates
歌手かしゅ — singer
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