Do any of you folks find it useful for memorization to mentally group kanji with the same onyomi readings? Early on, with 工 and 口 it was easy to have a mental note that they both have こう. and now there are so many more. I know that the vocabulary readings are key, but we have to remember those kanji readings as well. Before I go down the rabbit hole of making lists of kanji with the same onyomi, let me ask if this seems like a useful mental exercise? Or am I just going to confuse myself down the road?
I’m only a little ways ahead of you at the back end of Level 6, so I still distinctly remember seeing that 人工 and 人口 were homophones and thinking, “This isn’t gonna be easy”.
As you’ve alluded to, familiarity with readings comes much easier from just seeing (and hearing!) them in vocabulary words, but WK does indeed make us recognize them in isolation as part of the process.
I think trying to draw connections between disparate kanji that just so happen to have the same on’yomi is putting more on your plate for very little gain, but you nerd-sniped me, so I went ahead and generated the list, provided below. Hopefully it helps you get a sense of whether this is a worthwhile direction in which to take your studies.
I’m not sure how helpful making lists would be unless that helps you memorize.
This is where mnemonics come into play. Always use the same mnemonic for each sound and you’ll be able come up with ways to put them together with the meaning to remember them.
You will also notice that in many cases a radical represents the same sound when it appears which is really helpful for remembering onyomi readings.
My take on this is that it isn’t really worth dedicating too much time to memorizing phonetic components, because 1) rote memorization is hard and 2) there are so many exceptions.
Now, going down a rabbit hole like that can be fun for a while, and if you think it is, then I’d say go right ahead. Just know that when you stop finding it stimulating, it’s perfectly fine to stop.
All of that being said, I think it’s good that you’re aware of phonetic components, because it means that you’re likely to pick up a lot of them as you go along.
I’m adding a to this here because I think if you want to find similar on’yomi combinations, you will reach the same conclusion as this semantic-phonetic composition script. There are kanjis that have a radical in common that will almost always have the same reading. This is something you noticed with 口 and 工 but in the beginning it is not as common. When you get into more detailed kanji there will be many, MANY kanji with the same sounds. こう is one of the most common on’yomi readings and I can almost guarantee you that 30+ kanji in wanikani alone have that reading. It will take time and dedication to write out yourself, but if it’s something that will help you, you can make the list yourself, or just use this script. It will be much faster to use the script.
I don’t think systematic learning or grouping by phonetic only is interesting time wise.
However learning the “strong” phonetic-semantics components / kanjis that appear in several derived kanji is very useful for example if it has 曽 – Kanji details – jpdb it has a very high chance to have a ゾウ and or if it has a 青 – Kanji details – jpdb there is a very high chance that the On is セイ
It’s all on a case by case basis but there’s a lot of free real estate moments to be had .
to this here because I think if you want to find similar on’yomi combinations, you will reach the same conclusion as this semantic-phonetic composition script. There are kanjis that have a radical in common that will almost always have the same reading. This is something you noticed with 口 and 工 but in the beginning it is not as common. When you get into more detailed kanji there will be many, MANY kanji with the same sounds. こう is one of the most common on’yomi readings and I can almost guarantee you that 30+ kanji in wanikani alone have that reading. It will take time and dedication to write out yourself, but if it’s something that will help you, you can make the list yourself, or just use this script. It will be much faster to use the script.
.