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Kotomora

鴿

dove, temple pigeon

Strokes17

Readings

On'yomi

  • コウ

Kun'yomi

  • はと
  • どばと

Meaning

鴿 centers on a specific kind of bird: a dove or temple pigeon. The meanings are closely related, both referring to the same gentle bird often associated with peace or sacred spaces.

Study

Etymology

鴿 combines 合 (meeting, fitting) with 鳥 (bird), likely forming a phono-semantic compound where 合 suggests the sound and the bird radical indicates the meaning. The exact historical development is uncertain.

Meaning mnemonic

The left side 合 can suggest a meeting or gathering, and the right side 鳥 is a bird. Picture doves gathering peacefully at a temple, cooing softly together.

Reading mnemonic

For コウ, imagine a dove cooing softly: the coo sound cues コウ, and the dove is the bird on the right.