6.11. What words have the same kanji in China and Japan but different meanings?

Many kanji words have different meanings between Chinese and Japanese. For example, 手紙 is tegami, "letter", in Japanese, but means "toilet paper" in Chinese. Here is a table of examples:

Kanji word	Japanese pronunciation	Japanese meaning	Chinese pronunciation	Chinese meaning
怪我	kega	injury	guai4 wo3	blame me
勉強	benkyō	study	mian3 qiang2	Adjective meaning inadequate, unconvincing, strained, far fetched v. manage
不勉強	fubenkyō	idleness, lack of application, lazy study habits, inactivity	bu4 mian3 qiang2	It's alright. I don't force my way.
先生	sensei	teacher	xian1 sheng5	Mr. (Mister) - in Taiwan often contracted as 先. But also "teacher" in some dialects.
切手	kitte	stamp	qie1 shou3	to cut the hands
急行	kyūkō	express train	ji2 xing2	urgently walking
上手	jōzu	adroit, proficient, expert, dextrous, dexterous, adept, practiced, deft, practised, skilled	shang1 shou3	start to get familiar with, or get to know how to do, something
下手	heta	awkward, inept; inexpert, untrained; inapt	xia4 shou3	proceed, start to do something, commence
天井	tenjō	eiling, ceiling price, top price, maximum acceptable or required price	tian1 jing3	a roof frame, atrium, small yard; courtyard or skylight
娘	musume	daughter, offspring	niang2	mother
湯	yu	hot water, hot spring	tang1	soup
有難う	arigatō	thank you	you3 nan4	catastrophic, disastrous, calamitous
吃る	domoru	to stutter, to stammer	chi1	to eat
邪魔	jama	to disturb, to come's in one way, an obtacle	xie2 mo2	the devil
文句	monku	complaint	wen2 ju4	sentence flow
丈夫	jōbu	strong, robust	zhang4 fu5	husband
大丈夫	daijōbu	OK, alright	da4 zhang4 fu5	a gentleman, an upright person, a man of honour
演出	enshutsu	to direct, to produce (a play)	yan3 chu1	to perform, to act (in a movie/drama/show)

Acknowledgements

This was contributed to the "wiki sci.lang.japan FAQ" (see 17.3. FAQ Format). Apologies to the contributor but I have lost your name. Please bear with me as I track down the author's name. Thanks to Angel Fong for corrections.

sci.lang.japan FAQ / 6. Word meanings

If you have questions, corrections, or comments, please contact Ben Bullock or use the discussion forum / Privacy


Book reviews	Convert Japanese numbers	Handwritten kanji recognition	Stroke order diagrams	Convert Japanese units

★

Dictionary of Japanese food

☆

Figlet - giant ascii letters

★

Play reversi against the computer

☆

Unix manual pages in English, Korean, and Japanese.

★

Turn numerals into English words