# 仕組み reading confusion. Exceptional word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Japanese Language\ **Created:** [October 22, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603 "2024-10-22T14:54:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twinston](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@twinston](https://community.wanikani.com/u/twinston)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/1 "2024-10-22T14:54:31Z")
I kept on messing this one up in reviews because i would type a second み, why is it not しくみみ? The Kun’yomi reading for 組 is くみ, is there a particular reason that the み is explicitly written after the kanji even though the み is in the reading for 組? Thanks ahead of time ---
**Author:** ![Inserio](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/inserio/32/92_2.png) [@Inserio](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Inserio)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/2 "2024-10-22T15:08:34Z")
組 also has a kun’yomi reading of く.む That is, as a verb 組(く)む. This may not be the actual _reason_ for it, but it could at least help you rationalize it in your head if you just treat 仕組(しく)み as a compound verb in noun form. Also, there are a good number of words like this, where it can be written multiple ways because sometimes the okurigana can be omitted. Though I’m sure someone else can better weigh in on why it happens and when. By “this”, I mean like 組(くみ) vs 組(く)み. ---
**Author:** ![Ka5](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@Ka5](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Ka5)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/3 "2024-10-22T15:36:27Z")
If anything, 組（くみ） seems like an odd one out, since normally you’d expect a noun created from 組む to keep its okurigana. I’m not sure if there’s a particular reason other than “some people started writing it this way and it stuck”. You might find it interesting to look up cases like this on jpdb. It has stats of how much each spelling was used across a large-ish corpus. E.g.: [https://jpdb.io/vocabulary/1594180/仕組/しくみ](https://jpdb.io/vocabulary/1594180/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84/%E3%81%97%E3%81%8F%E3%81%BF) is also (very infrequently) written without okurigana. ---
**Author:** ![seanblue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/seanblue/32/579844_2.png) [@seanblue](https://community.wanikani.com/u/seanblue)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/4 "2024-10-22T15:46:38Z")
It’s common for words like this to internalize the okurigana into the kanji, especially with signage like 受付 (うけつけ). But as you said, the true kun’yomi reading for 組 is く, and it just happens to have internalized the み in the noun version to make 組 read くみ. ---
**Author:** ![Ka5](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@Ka5](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Ka5)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/5 "2024-10-22T16:14:11Z")
For sure, it’s common to internalize, and it’s also common to not internalize (e.g. 読み、歩き、助け). Trying to make common signs shorter and clearer could absolutely be the reason for this process (I don’t know if it was or not). And same for 組, it seems like something one might have wanted to write as a suffix on doorplates or war banners. Interestingly, 受け付け is also (very infrequently) found with its okurigana intact, it’s even in the IME suggestions list. ---
**Author:** ![pm215](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/pm215/32/510099_2.png) [@pm215](https://community.wanikani.com/u/pm215)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/6 "2024-10-22T18:15:56Z")
> [@Ka5](#): > > If anything, 組（くみ） seems like an odd one out, since normally you’d expect a noun created from 組む to keep its okurigana. I’m not sure if there’s a particular reason other than “some people started writing it this way and it stuck”. Mmm. The [official Japanese government recommendations for okurigana](https://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/sisaku/joho/joho/kijun/naikaku/okurikana/honbun04.html) says the usual rule is that nouns derived from verbs keep okurigana, but then lists 組 under 例外 (exceptions), with a footnote: > ここに掲げた「組」は,「花の組」,「赤の組」などのように使った場合の「くみ」であり,例えば,「活字の組みがゆるむ。」などとして使う場合の「くみ」を意味するものではない。 So 組 is written without okurigana in some cases (when it’s a straight noun meaning “group”) and with okurigana in others (when the connection to the verb form 組む is stronger). But that just tells you the way the government expects as a norm, which doesn’t say why it got to be that way (and doesn’t mean every writer always follows the official guidance). ---
**Author:** ![polv](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/polv/32/572691_2.png) [@polv](https://community.wanikani.com/u/polv)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/7 "2024-10-22T18:43:35Z")
Okurigana can have [different variations in use](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okurigana#Issues), and not necessarily all are official / allowed by the government. Official ones may also be different from other related words. 話(はなし) is another common one that internalizes. ---
**Author:** ![simias](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/simias/32/791573_2.png) [@simias](https://community.wanikani.com/u/simias)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/8 "2024-10-22T19:56:48Z")
> [@Ka5](#): > > If anything, 組（くみ） seems like an odd one out, since normally you’d expect a noun created from 組む to keep its okurigana. I’m not sure if there’s a particular reason other than “some people started writing it this way and it stuck”. There are actually a bunch like those, where the noun version has no okurigana but the verb has it even though it’s the exact same root. 畳 but 畳む, 場合 but 合う, 話 but 話す, 氷 but 凍る (with a different kanji to make it even more fun)… It doesn’t seem to be fully regular but note that in general in these cases you have godan verbs with the okurigana which makes sense since it needs to change when you conjugate (組みます, 組まない etc…) So I suppose that the logic is that they got rid of the okurigana in the nouns because the reading is unambiguous but they kept it in the verb because you need it for conjugation purposes. But as @pm215 points out, that stuff is art more than science, you just need to memorize the exceptions through bruteforce. Fortunately 組む compounds are plentiful in the wild, so you’ll get used to them quickly enough. ---
**Author:** ![seanblue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/seanblue/32/579844_2.png) [@seanblue](https://community.wanikani.com/u/seanblue)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/9 "2024-10-22T20:25:34Z")
> [@simias](#): > > 氷 but 凍る (with a different kanji to make it even more fun) For more “different kanji” fun check this out > [@Special kanji words derived from other words](https://community.wanikani.com/t/special-kanji-words-derived-from-other-words/35655): > > Continuing from [here](https://community.wanikani.com/t/fun-kanji-new-kanji-non-wk-kanji/33098/158), in this topic we can discuss kanji that become their own words, that are clearly derived from simpler kanji/words. For example, 掌(てのひら) (meaning palm of one’s hand), is literally 手の平. Let’s gather all of these interesting kanji that fit this pattern. When the origin isn’t a valid spelling, dictionaries like [Goo](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp) will sometimes mention the origin. For example, the entry for 湖 says 《「水海」の意》. Origin is a valid alternative spelling: Word Reading Origin 碑 いしぶみ 石文 彩る … ---
**Author:** ![simias](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/simias/32/791573_2.png) [@simias](https://community.wanikani.com/u/simias)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/10 "2024-10-22T21:15:38Z")
Oh that’s really nice! I wish I had known about this when I went through WK, it would have saved me some time (although I guess it would have cheated me of those “hey wait a minute” moments during reviews). I think WaniKani should really point these things out. They sometimes do, they often don’t. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/2/a/62a8b0f4c59ff2c5b6651ffcf43531480b3e5297.png) [@system](https://community.wanikani.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E4%BB%95%E7%B5%84%E3%81%BF-reading-confusion-exceptional-word/67603/11 "2025-10-22T21:16:30Z")
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