Readings

What is a reading?
A reading is the way to read a han character.

Types of readings
A character can have different types of readings.

"Word reading" (or "Main reading")
This is the way we read the character as a word. The word readings all have a direct meaning.

Example: "Konni", meaning "Child", is the word reading of this character: 子.

"Component reading" (or "Second reading")
This is the reading of a character when it is a part of a word composed of several characters.

Example: The word reading of 生 is "Seik" (To live). But when it is used to make the word 出生 (lei'sek: to birth), we use its Component reading: "sek".

"Casual reading"
It is usually a shorten version of the word reading, used in casual conditions.

"Particle reading"
It is the reading of a character as a Grammar or Conjugation particle.