Jisho

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1 Reply ・ Started by TheJapaneseLearner at 2021-06-24 18:28:16 UTC ・ Last reply by jakobd2 at 2021-06-24 20:50:28 UTC

Why are 寿司's kanji doesn't relate to the meaning?

I've heard that one of the kanji in sushi means commander, as it's not related to the meaning of the word.

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jakobd2 at 2021-06-24 20:50:28 UTC

Not sure what level of explanation you're after, but most basic version: the characters here are used as ateji, just for their phonetic value. That is also mentioned when you look the word up here on Jisho.org.

As for why ateji exist, why they're used with that specific word and why these specific characters were chosen, well if there's anything you cannot find or understand throughout your research, feel free to ask.

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