青

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 空の青がきれいです。▶ —
   The blue of the sky is beautiful.
2. 信号が青になりました。▶ —
   The light turned blue (green).

Collocations

Mnemonic

青 ao — the noun "blue," yet Japanese 青 takes green into the same embrace. The blue of a traffic light is really green, but the Japanese call it 青 — classical Japanese bound blue and green into one category, and the lexicon kept that memory. Shifted into the onyomi せい, 青年 and 青春 are metaphors of a youth not yet ripened. Kanji-reading kin: 青 reads Korean 'cheong' (青春), Mandarin qīng.

Quick check

1. Why is the green traffic light called 青信号?

   • Classical Japanese categorized blue and green together
   • Government mislabeling
   • Direct Western loanword
   • Actually blue, not green