兄

• 読み: あに
• ローマ字: ani
• 漢字の分解: 兄 (ani/kei/kyou) — older brother, elder
• 発音: /a.ni/

意味

Older brother; elder brother. The humble term for one's own older brother.

Used when talking about your own older brother to others. The honorific form お兄さん is used for someone else's brother or when addressing your own brother directly. Japanese distinguishes between older and younger siblings, unlike English where 'brother' covers both.

例文

1. 兄は大学生です。
2. 兄と一緒にサッカーをします。
3. 私の兄は東京に住んでいます。

使い方ガイド

場面: talking about family, self-introduction, daily conversation

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

From Old Japanese. The kanji 兄 shows a person (儿) with a mouth (口) on top, representing the one who speaks with authority — the elder sibling.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal