noun
unpronounced kanji in kanbun reading
In the Japanese reading of classical Chinese texts (kanbun), these are kanji that are not vocalized but serve grammatical or structural roles, such as particles or function words.
See also: 漢文
漢文を訓読するとき、置き字は読まずに飛ばす。
When reading kanbun in Japanese, unpronounced kanji are skipped without being read aloud.
noun
function characters in letter writing
Refers to characters representing adverbs, conjunctions, and similar function words used in traditional letter composition. This usage is rare and mostly historical.
昔の手紙文では、置き字として接続詞や副詞を表す文字が使われた。
In old letter writing, characters representing conjunctions and adverbs were used as function characters.
Compound of 置き (oki, 'placing, leaving') + 字 (ji, 'character'). The term literally means 'left characters', referring to kanji that are left unpronounced or set aside in certain reading contexts.