reading classical Chinese aloud without understanding the meaning
Refers to the practice of vocalizing classical Chinese texts by their Japanese readings (kanbun kundoku) without necessarily comprehending the content. Often used in educational or historical contexts.
reading a kanji compound using the Japanese pronunciation of each character
Describes the method of pronouncing a kanji compound by giving the native Japanese reading (kun'yomi) of each individual character, as opposed to using the Sino-Japanese on'yomi. This is a technical term in Japanese linguistics.
In old temple schools, children would read classical Chinese aloud by character reading without understanding the meaning.
Character reading is, for example, reading 山道 as やまみち, using the kun'yomi of each character.
訓読み is the native Japanese reading of a single kanji. 文字読み extends this concept to compounds, reading each character by its kun'yomi.
漢文訓読 is the broader practice of reading classical Chinese with Japanese glosses and word order. 文字読み can be a part of this process, focusing on the vocalization without comprehension.
Compound of 文字 (moji, 'character') and 読み (yomi, 'reading'). The term straightforwardly describes the action of reading characters.