Kun'yomi

Kun'yomi refers to the native Japanese readings of kanji characters, representing their original Japanese words. When a kanji is used in indigenous Japanese vocabulary, it typically adopts its kun'yomi pronunciation. For example, the kanji 山 (mountain) has the kun'yomi "yama." These readings are often used when kanji appear alone or with native Japanese words, as opposed to on readings (ony'yomi), which are borrowed from Chinese. Understanding kun'yomi helps in recognizing how Japanese uses kanji in everyday language, especially for native words, place names, and traditional terms.