King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “vernacular”

Romaji: tochikotoba
vernacular; local dialect

In Japanese, vernacular is , read (tochikotoba).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

  1. n vernacular; local dialect

Kanji and stroke order

soil, earth, ground
on: ド、ト
kun: つち
3 strokes · JLPT 4
ground, earth
on: チ、ジ
6 strokes · JLPT 3
say, word
on: ゲン、ゴン
kun: い.う、こと
7 strokes · JLPT 4
leaf, plane, lobe
on: ヨウ
kun: は
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “vernacular”

WordReadingMeaning
くにことば kunikotobalocal dialect; vernacular; provincialism
げんちご genchigoindigenous language; local language; vernacular
おくにことば okunikotobalocal dialect; vernacular; provincialism
にちじょうご nichijougoeveryday language; common parlance; vernacular
ヴァナキュラー vanakyuraavernacular (e.g. architecture)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
とち tochiplot of land; lot; soil
どよう doyouSaturday
りょうど ryoudoterritory; domain; dominion
こくど kokudocountry; territory; domain
みやげ miyagelocal specialty or souvenir bought as a gift while travelling
どだい dodaifoundation; base; basis
ちいき chiikiarea; region; district
ちきゅう chikyuuEarth; the globe
いう iuto say; to utter; to declare
ことば kotobalanguage; dialect

See also: Chinese symbol for “vernacular”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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