Meaning
The kanji 詞 means word, part of speech, and lyrics. Study Japanese grammar for any length of time and 詞 turns up everywhere — it is the suffix that names nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and particles.
The character combines two parts. On the left is 言 (げん／ごん), the radical for speech and language, found in many kanji tied to communication. On the right is 司 (し), meaning to manage or oversee. Put them together and you get the idea of organizing language into categories — which is exactly what 詞 does in grammar.
In music and poetry, 詞 refers to the actual words of a song, distinct from the melody. The most common example is 歌詞 (song lyrics), a word any Japanese music fan knows well.
詞 has 12 strokes and sits on the Joyo kanji list at secondary-school level. It does not appear in elementary curricula, but at N2 it becomes essential — especially when reading grammar explanations written in Japanese.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
詞 has one on'yomi: シ (shi). Almost every Japanese grammar term uses this reading, making 詞 a suffix you will encounter again and again:
- 品詞 (hinshi) — part of speech
- 名詞 (meishi) — noun
- 動詞 (doushi) — verb
- 歌詞 (kashi) — song lyrics
- 副詞 (fukushi) — adverb
Learn シ and you gain a shortcut into dozens of grammar terms at once. Spot 詞 at the end of an unfamiliar word and you already know it names some kind of word class.
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
There is an old kun'yomi: ことば (kotoba), meaning word or speech. Modern Japanese rarely uses it — ことば is almost always written in hiragana or as 言葉. The 詞 reading survives mainly in classical poetry and formal literary texts.
- 詞 (kotoba) — word, speech (literary usage)
At N2 level, focus on シ. The kun'yomi can wait until you reach classical Japanese.
Common Words & Compounds
Because 詞 acts as a suffix for grammatical categories, it generates a large family of compound words.
Grammar Terms (文法用語)
- 品詞 (hinshi) — part of speech
- 名詞 (meishi) — noun
- 動詞 (doushi) — verb
- 形容詞 (keiyoushi) — i-adjective
- 形容動詞 (keiyoudoushi) — na-adjective
- 副詞 (fukushi) — adverb
- 助詞 (joshi) — particle
- 助動詞 (jodoushi) — auxiliary verb
- 接続詞 (setsuzokushi) — conjunction
- 感動詞 (kandoushi) — interjection
- 代名詞 (daimeishi) — pronoun
Music & Literature (音楽・文学)
- 歌詞 (kashi) — song lyrics
- 作詞 (sakushi) — lyric writing; composing lyrics
- 詞章 (shishou) — wording of a poem or song
- 祝詞 (norito) — Shinto ritual prayer (special reading)
Example Sentences
日本語では、品詞を正しく理解することが大切です。
Nihongo de wa, hinshi wo tadashiku rikai suru koto ga taisetsu desu.
In Japanese, understanding parts of speech correctly is important.
名詞は物や人の名前を表す詞です。
Meishi wa mono ya hito no namae wo arawasu kotoba desu.
A noun is a word that names a thing or a person.
あの歌の歌詞がとても感動的だった。
Ano uta no kashi ga totemo kandouteki datta.
The lyrics of that song really moved me.
助詞は日本語の文法の中で最も難しい部分の一つだ。
Joshi wa nihongo no bunpou no naka de mottomo muzukashii bubun no hitotsu da.
Particles are one of the hardest parts of Japanese grammar.
この曲の作詞は有名な詩人が担当した。
Kono kyoku no sakushi wa yuumei na shijin ga tantou shita.
A well-known poet wrote the lyrics for this piece.
動詞と形容詞の違いを説明できますか。
Doushi to keiyoushi no chigai wo setsumei dekimasu ka.
Can you explain the difference between verbs and adjectives?
副詞は動詞や形容詞を修飾する役割を持つ。
Fukushi wa doushi ya keiyoushi wo shuushoku suru yakuwari wo motsu.
Adverbs modify verbs and adjectives.
接続詞を使うと、文章の流れが自然になる。
Setsuzokushi wo tsukau to, bunshou no nagare ga shizen ni naru.
Using conjunctions makes your writing flow more naturally.
JLPT N2の試験では、さまざまな品詞の知識が問われる。
JLPT N2 no shiken de wa, samazama na hinshi no chishiki ga towareru.
The JLPT N2 exam tests your knowledge of various parts of speech.
Memory Tip
Think of 詞 as a speech manager. The left side, 言, is language — a mouth with lines above it, words rising into the air. The right side, 司, means to manage and control. Together: the character that sorts words into their proper grammatical boxes.
When you see 詞 in a grammar term — 名詞, 動詞, 助詞 — that kanji is doing the sorting. For 歌詞 (song lyrics), the manager is picking exactly which words go into the song.