Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
微笑 read as びしょう is 漢語... But I often see ほほえみ also written as 微笑 or 微笑み. Often enough that I generally read 微笑 as ほほえみ unless it`s indicated otherwise by ふりがな or totally doesn`t fit in with the feel of the passage.
Is this just connecting the 大和言葉 to the 漢語 of the same meaning? Or can 微 actually be read as ほほ?
In the large scheme of things, it probably doesn`t matter much, but I was a bit curious.  |
You've brought up a very good point. Evidently, you should be the biggest bookworm in Central Japan.
In schools, the only reading they teach you for 微笑 is びしょう, which makes sense because:
1. The word was borrowed from Chinese. and
2. There is no kun-reading ほほ for 微.
However, as you stated, it's true that in many fictional and non-fictional writings, 微笑 often has the furigana ほほえみ added by the authors. This happens quite often to some words, which is a unique feature of the language. It's like you want a word to pysically appear in one way but sound in another. Amazingly, this is possible in Japanese.
Another good example (though with no On-Kun relation) is 女 read as ひと in so many novels and song lyrics. People prefer the feminine look of the character 女, but not the sound of おんな since it can sound more like a "broad" than a "woman" or "lady".
My general analysis is this. Even after well over 1,000 years of pronouncing both On and Kun, our ears still long for the Kun unless we are in proffesional/academic/business situations. Seems this is in our DNA, and it's truly amazing that you now have a Japanese ear for reading 微笑 as ほほえみ when there is no furigana to read it as such.