四

• 読み: し
• ローマ字: shi
• 漢字の分解: 四 (shi/yo/yon) — four
• 発音: /ɕi/

意味

Four; 4. A number with two common readings in Japanese.

Has two readings: し (Sino-Japanese) and よん (native Japanese). よん is preferred in most everyday contexts because し sounds like 死 (shi, death). For example, よじ (four o'clock) and よにん (four people) use the よ reading. However, し appears in compounds like 四月 (shigatsu, April).

例文

1. 四月から学校が始まります。
2. 家族は四人です。
3. 四時に駅で会いましょう。

使い方ガイド

場面: counting, dates, time

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

The kanji 四 originally depicted breath or air in an enclosed space. Its current form is unrelated to its meaning, unlike 一 through 三.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal