A Kanji Examined – 月

This post is authored by Jonathan. Please check out his blog, Jonathan’s Japan(ese) Journal • ジョナサンの日本(語)日記, for more Japanese related articles.

Recently, we examined 日, the kanji for Sun, so today, since we’ve started with heavenly bodies, let’s go ahead and examine the kanji for the Moon:

月

There are two primary meanings for this kanji: (1) the Moon and its light, or other planets’ moons; and (2) one month. (There are other, more obscure or archaic meanings, but they are rather outside the scope of this article. Let’s keep it simple for now.)

The Japanese reading for this kanji is つき and the Chinese readings are げつ and がつ.

“Moon”

This kanji is used to refer to the Moon or to its light. On its own, it is usually read つき, as in the following sentence.

今日、月はかなり明るいですね。
(きょう、　つき は　かなり あかるい ですね)
“The moon is rather bright today, isn’t it?”

今日 (きょう) = today

かなり = fairly, considerably

明るい (あかるい) = bright

Here’s another, slightly more complicated sentence:

そのとおり。月は地球の周りを回っていて、時々太陽を覆い隠すんだ。
(そのとおり。　つき は　ちきゅう の　まわり を　まわっていて ときどき たいよう を　おおいかくす んだ)
“Exactly. The Moon revolves around the Earth and sometimes covers the Sun.”

そのとおり = expresses, literally, something like “it is just like that” or “it is just as you say”

地球 (ちきゅう) = the Earth

周り (まわり) = surroundings, the area around something

回る (まわる） = to turn or revolve; also, to visit several places, to function well, to pass a certain time

時々 (ときどき) = sometimes, from time to time
々 has many names, but I’m most familiar with のま. It means that you should double the preceding kanji. Thus, 時々 can also be written 時時.

太陽 (たいよう) = the Sun

覆い隠す (おおいかくす) = to mask or cover (something)
This is a compound verb, created from 覆う and 隠す.

Pretty straightforward, right?

In many, if not most, compounds involved the Moon, 月 often takes the げつ Chinese reading. For example, 満月 (まんげつ) which means “full moon,” as you can see below:

満月は良い天気をもたらす。
(まんげつ は　いい てんき を　もたらす)
The full moon brings good weather.

満月: full moon

満 (マン): full or fullness

良い (いい or よい) = good, excellent

天気 (てんき) = weather

もたらす = to bring about

月光 (げっこう)—a combination including 光 (ひかり; コウ), which means “light”—is another word that takes the げつ Chinese reading, but since it comes before the “k” sound of こう, it changes to げっ.

月光を浴びながら祈っているエミリーさんはかわいかったです。
(げっこう を　あびながら いのっている エミリーさん は　かわいかった です)
Emily looked cute as she prayed while basking in the moonlight.

浴びる (あびる) = to bathe or bask in

祈る (いのる) = to pray or wish

かわいい = cute or adorable, but you almost certainly knew this word!

Historically, the Moon has been regarded by the Japanese as one of the symbols of the beauties of nature. This is evidenced by the following two expressions which idiomatically mean “the beauty of nature”: 花鳥風月 and 雪月花. Both of these look interesting and are worth knowing for both linguistic and cultural reasons, so let’s break them down one at a time.

花鳥風月

（か・ちょう・ふう・げつ）
(flowers | bird | wind | Moon)

雪月花

（せつ・げつ・か）
(snow | Moon | flowers)

There are a lot of good kanji in there worth getting to know!

As I mentioned before, 月 applies to other moons, or satellites, as well, not just our own.

木星の月も大きいですか。
(もくせい の　つき も おおきい です　か)
Is Jupiter’s moon large too?

木星 (もくせい): Jupiter, though it can be called ジュピター as well

大きい (大きい): big, large

And, of course, you’re likely familiar with 月曜日 (げつようび), right? That’s Monday and, yes, it is essentially the day named after the Moon. You can read more about the weekday naming conventions on Wikipedia, if you’re interested.

“Month”

Due to both the Moon’s revolution and rotation both being approximately one month, the meaning of “month” has also been applied to 月. This is quite apparent in the names of the months of the year, as they all use with this character and all use the がつ Chinese reading.

私の誕生日は一月十日です。
(わたしの たんじょうび は　いちがつ とおか です)
My birthday is January 10th.

私の (わたしの): my

誕生日 (たんじょうび): birthday

一月 (いちがつ): January—that is, the first month

十日(とおか): the tenth day of the month—note the special reading!

Likewise, spans of time expressed in months use the same character, but using the げつ reading again:

ひろ子さんに会えなくなって、もう六ヶ月です。
(ひろこさん に　あえなく なって、　もう ろっかげつ です)
It’s already been six months since I’ve become unable to meet (or, see) Hiroko.

会う (あう): to meet or encounter (someone)

なる: to become

六ヶ月 (ろっかげつ): six months
The construction for “〇 months” is “〇ヶ月.” Note that “ヶ,” a special character, is read as “か” and not “け.”

月 is also used with a variety of words to indicate that whatever it is attached to is a monthly event. For example:

料金は月払いです。
(りょうきん は　つきばらい です)
Fees are paid monthly.

料金 (りょうきん): fees, charge

月払い (つきばらい): monthly installments/payments
Note that ばらい is the voiced form of はらい, a Japanese reading, which is why the つき reading is used. The verb はらう means “to pay.”

Here are a few more such words:

• 月給 (げっきゅう) means “monthly salary.” As you can guess 給 means “salary”
• 月末 (げつまつ)—末 meaning “end or close (of)”—refers to the end of the month
• 月利 (げつり) means “monthly interest”
• 月刊 (げっかん) means “monthly publication”

I imagine that the pattern is clear by now!

That ends our tour of the Moon, as it were. This is a kanji that you’ll see a lot, so keep an eye out for it.