鳴

音読おんよみ: メイ

訓読くんよみ: なく・なる・ならす

画数かくすう: 14

部首ぶしゅ: 鳥（とり）

Meaning

Chirp / Cry / Animal or Nature Sound

  • Basic forms
  • 鳴く — to chirp; to cry (animals) / base form
  • 鳴きます — (it) chirps; cries / masu form
  • 鳴いた — chirped; cried / ta form
  • 鳴いて — chirping; crying and … / te-form
  • 鳴かない — does not chirp; does not cry / negative form
  • 鳴けば — if it chirps; if it cries / conditional
  • 鳴け・鳴きなさい — cry!; make a sound! / imperative
  • Other common forms
  • 鳴きたい — wants to cry; wants to make a sound / 〜たい form
  • 鳴ける — can cry; can make a sound / potential
  • 鳴けた — was able to cry; could make a sound / past potential
  • 鳴けない — cannot cry; cannot make a sound / negative potential
  • More
  • 鳴こう — let’s cry; let’s make a sound / 〜よう form
  • 鳴かなかった — didn’t cry; didn’t make a sound / past negative
  • 鳴いている — is crying; is chirping right now / progressive
鳴く（なく） is a godan verb that ends in く. The stem is 鳴か, and it conjugates as 鳴く → 鳴きます → 鳴いて → 鳴いた. 鳴く is used for sounds made by animals, birds, insects — and even things like bells or thunder. For humans crying, Japanese uses a different verb: 「泣く」.
  • 鳴なく — to chirp / cry (animal)
  • 鳴なき声ごえ — animal cry
  • 悲鳴ひめい — shriek / scream
  • 共鳴きょうめい — resonance / sympathy
  • 雷鳴らいめい — thunder
  • 鳴なり物もの — percussion instruments / noisemakers

The left side has the mouth radical, while the right (鳥) means bird — evoking natural sounds like chirping or crying. This kanji appears in words for animal sounds, thunder, or emotional expressions.

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