Uncovering the Role of Phonetic Radicals in Japanese Kanji via Reconceptualization of Regularity and Consistency

Uncovering the Role of Phonetic Radicals in Japanese Kanji via Reconceptualization of Regularity and Consistency | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Uncovering the Role of Phonetic Radicals in Japanese Kanji via Reconceptualization of Regularity and Consistency Yumiko Adachi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9060059/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Kanji learning poses a considerable challenge to learners from an alphabetic background due to the difference in print-to-sound mapping systems. However, phonetic radicals have been identified as a tool that supports this mapping and facilitates character learning and reading in Chinese (e.g., Anderson et al., 2003 ; Chen et al., 2014 ; Kim et al., 2016 ). This suggests the potential of phonetic radicals in supporting Kanji learning as well. Since the utility of phonetic radicals in reading Kanji is still unclear, this study first reconceptualizes regularity and consistency , which are key constructs that reflect the phonetic radical’s contribution to the character’s reading, to fit the Kanji context. It then measures these constructs among 1,481 characters selected from commonly used (i.e., Jōyō) Kanji. Subsequently, the percentages of jukugo where regular and consistent characters can be read by the phonetic radical were examined. The analysis reveals that learning the single graph-to-sound correspondence of 160 phonetic radicals allows one to read 383 characters (i.e., 17.9% of Jōyō Kanji) in 97% of jukugo tokens where they are used in modern Japanese print. These results underscore the high utility of phonetic radicals in reading Kanji. Pedagogical implications and future research directions are discussed. Phonology Phonetic radical Kanji Japanese reading Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterial.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9060059","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":606031620,"identity":"6ec89db2-f9a5-4759-adbf-c72d3d697b2f","order_by":0,"name":"Yumiko Adachi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACAwbGBgk5MAMOeIjQYkyyFobEBqK1GBw/vPHDzx0W6f2zm7d9+NjGIK87I4Hxwds2PFrOpBVL9p6RyJ1x51jxzJltDIbbbiQwG87Fp+VAjoE0Y5tEbsONHGNm3m0MCWY3EtikefFpOf/G+DdQS7o8SMtfiBb233i13MgxA9mSYADSwgi1hRmfFskbz8ose9skDDfeSCtm7P0nYbjtzMNmyTnncGvhO5+8+cbPtjp5uRvJmxl+nLGRNzuefPDDmzLcWhQOoPIlgBgYTfiAPH7pUTAKRsEoGAVAAACRM1RMMuonOQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Carnegie Mellon University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yumiko","middleName":"","lastName":"Adachi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-07 17:23:26","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9060059/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9060059/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108181333,"identity":"903e9b91-8599-4ed1-9bf7-94a4730289f0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-30 08:58:34","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":550306,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"JoyoPhoneticManuscriptRW.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9060059/v1_covered_a0b76378-8979-4e1b-b110-1570a05effce.pdf"},{"id":104840365,"identity":"8e9bd5b3-1617-4430-901e-24055e778fbd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-17 19:13:41","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":669906,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplementarymaterial.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9060059/v1/8bb687b3d3cfd705056b4636.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Uncovering the Role of Phonetic Radicals in Japanese Kanji via Reconceptualization of Regularity and Consistency","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Phonology, Phonetic radical, Kanji, Japanese, reading","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9060059/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9060059/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eKanji learning poses a considerable challenge to learners from an alphabetic background due to the difference in print-to-sound mapping systems. However, phonetic radicals have been identified as a tool that supports this mapping and facilitates character learning and reading in Chinese (e.g., Anderson et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e; Chen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Kim et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). This suggests the potential of phonetic radicals in supporting Kanji learning as well. Since the utility of phonetic radicals in reading Kanji is still unclear, this study first reconceptualizes \u003cem\u003eregularity\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003econsistency\u003c/em\u003e, which are key constructs that reflect the phonetic radical\u0026rsquo;s contribution to the character\u0026rsquo;s reading, to fit the Kanji context. It then measures these constructs among 1,481 characters selected from commonly used (i.e., Jōyō) Kanji. 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