Quick clarification about which kanji readings WK includes?

WaniKani
#1

Usually when I am going through my new kanji lessons on WK, I will see both (or multiple) on’yomi and kun’yomi readings listed, though one set is usually greyed out since it is not the reading that WK has chosen to emphasize in that level/lesson. But for some reason I thought that WK still included all the known readings.

I just reached the kanji for “borrow”:
https://www.wanikani.com/kanji/%E5%80%9F

and I noticed that it uses 昔 (long ago) as its phonetic component and takes the せき reading. I thought it was odd that I didn’t remember this reading, so I checked in Level 11 and sure enough せき isn’t listed.

Has this always been the case and I just misunderstood? Does WK only includes the readings that it teaches in other kanji or vocab? Thanks!

#2

WaniKani definitely doesn’t include all known readings, because some can be quite obscure. It’s usually the case that they list the readings that appear in WK, then some jouyou readings (the ones Japanese students have to learn in school) that aren’t used in WK, and maybe a few more if people email them to ask if they can add them.

Just to be clear, you’re asking why 昔’s kanji entry doesn’t list せき as a reading, not that you think せき should be a reading for 借, right?

If you email them, they will probably add せき to 昔’s entry.

2 Likes
#3

Thanks, and yes that’s what I was asking! I guess when I’ve looked back at other kanji, the alternate readings just happened to be included in WK.

I only noticed this time while lingering on the additional info provided by the Phonetic-Semantic Composition userscript. I wish this type of stuff were baked into WK, but I can also understand that it might muddy the “consistency” of the system.

I recently picked up the Kanji in Context books to help fill in the gaps in WK and to reference more easily when I am practicing writing. Thanks again!