Kanji 語

音読おんよみ: ゴ・ギョ

訓読くんよみ: かた

画数かくすう: 14

部首ぶしゅ: 言(ごんべん)

Meaning

Word / Language / Speech

  • Basic forms
  • 語る — to speak; to tell; to narrate / base form
  • 語ります — (I) speak; narrate / masu form
  • 語った — told; narrated / ta form
  • 語って — speak and …; tell … / te-form
  • 語らない — do not tell / negative form
  • 語れば — if (someone) tells / conditional
  • 語れ・語りなさい — tell!; speak! / imperative
  • Other common forms
  • 語りたい — want to tell; want to talk about / 〜たい form
  • 語れる — can speak; can narrate / potential
  • 語れた — was able to speak / past potential
  • 語れない — cannot tell / negative potential
  • More
  • 語ろう — let’s talk; let’s tell / 〜よう form
  • 語らなかった — didn’t tell / past negative
  • 語っている — is telling; is speaking / progressive

語る(かたる) is a godan verb ending in . Stem alternates as る → り → っ, giving 語る・語ります・語って・語った. Often used for storytelling, expressing one’s thoughts, or narrating experiences.

  • 日本語にほんご — Japanese language
  • 英語えいご — English language
  • かたる — to talk, to tell
  • 語学ごがく — language study
  • 単語たんご — single vocabulary word
  • 語彙ごい — lexicon, vocabulary stock

This character combines 言 (speech) and 吾 (I, self), forming the idea of “speaking for oneself” — to talk, express, or describe. Over time, it came to mean “language” or “word.”

英語えいご勉強べんきょうしています。
I’m studying English.

かたってください。
Please tell (your story).

熟
Creates
熟語じゅくご — idiom; compound word
◀︎ Sayings+ ▶︎