Originally posted by Lexicographer
Yes, it is yuka, and YES, this is EXACTLY what I mean. Which is why it is important to learn the Japanese independently of the Chinese!
I disagree.
To start, the meaning 'bed' is carried by the other reading of the same character, toko. And if you have the advantage of knowing Chinese, you should find that remembering new characters is a simpler task. In addition, a large percentage of two-character compounds ought to be familiar, unchanged from the Chinese.
It's a big advantage because you should be able to read these compounds with no problem with one more thing in mind: Japanese on-yomi readings are regularly derived primarily in two ways (kan-on and tou-on). This explains why many kanji have at least two similar on readings. If you know as a kind of guide which Chinese sounds correspond to which resulting sounds in Japanese (by comparing Chinese and Japanese pronounciations), you'll be able to read many compounds *and* usually get some gist of their meaning. The problem, of course, is that knowing which compounds use the kan-on and which the tou-on is generally a matter of experience.
As an example, the kanji (kun-yomi 'tadashii') has kan-on shou and tou-on sei. They have different readings in the compounds (front) and (proper).
In any case, if you have some potential advantage, you should try to make the most of it
That's my secret.
[Knowing Chinese isn't going to help you with kun-yomi, except for the possible advantage that simply being familiar with ideograms may give you.]
