# perceive ゴ or 悟



## Isidore Demsky

In Japanese, does the word perceive ゴ (or 悟) imply that the thing perceived is true (and is it pronounced "go," or "wu")?

When you click on the audio at the site I linked to the pronunciation given is "go," but google translate gives "wu."


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## karlalou

We never read it 'wu'..
'Go' is correct though the sound alone doesn't mean anything in Japanese.
Yes, when it's 悟り(noun) or 悟る(verb) it means perceive.


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## AmaryllisBunny

The sound that you're talking about, "wu," does not exist in Japanese.　Are you sure you weren't listening to the Chinese pronunciation?


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## 810senior

It's as same as written in the quoted site. We don't have any way of reading it wo. Please don't believe in google translate as much.


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## Isidore Demsky

karlalou said:


> We never read it 'wu'..
> 'Go' is correct though the sound alone doesn't mean anything in Japanese.
> Yes, when it's 悟り(noun) or 悟る(verb) it means perceive.


Thank you.

In English, we could say John perceives Jane to be his friend without implying that Jane actually is his friend.

Is it the same with 悟り in Japanese, or would 悟り imply that the thing perceived is true?


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## SoLaTiDoberman

悟る is "realize," so one may sometimes realize what is not true.

どんなに頑張ってもできないと悟った。
He realized that he couldn't do that no matter how hard he would try.
In this case, "he couldn't do that" may be the truth, but may be not the truth.

真理を悟った = realized the truth.

悟りを開いた = realized the truth.
In this context, however, 悟り means "to realize the truth."
Therefore, it depends on the context.

In short, the answer to your question is, "Yes, sometimes."


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## Isidore Demsky

SoLaTiDoberman said:


> 悟る is "realize," so one may sometimes realize what is not true.
> 
> どんなに頑張ってもできないと悟った。
> He realized that he couldn't do that no matter how hard he would try.
> In this case, "he couldn't do that" may be the truth, but may be not the truth.
> 
> 真理を悟った = realized the truth.
> 
> 悟りを開いた = realized the truth.
> In this context, however, 悟り means "to realize the truth."
> Therefore, it depends on the context.
> 
> In short, the answer to your question is, "Yes, sometimes."


Thank you.

I understand what you're saying, but I'm not sure "realize" is really a good example.

In English, I think to "realize" something does kind of imply that that something is true (though I don't think the word "perceive" really does that.)



> Definition of _realize_ in English:
> 
> verb
> 
> 1 Become fully aware of (something) as a fact; understand clearly: _he realized his mistake at once
> 
> [with clause]:_ _they realized that something was wrong' _
> 
> _'she had not realized how hungry she was'_


_
Oxford Dictionary._


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## karlalou

悟る is a verb. You can see the definitions here.
悟り is a noun. You can see the definitions here.


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## Isidore Demsky

karlalou said:


> 悟る is a verb. You can see the definitions here.
> 悟り is a noun. You can see the definitions here.


Thank you.

Is either the verb or the noun pronounced goh?



karlalou said:


> We never read it 'wu'..
> 'Go' is correct though the sound alone doesn't mean anything in Japanese.
> Yes, when it's 悟り(noun) or 悟る(verb) it means perceive.


So  悟りand 悟る are pronounced goh, and can mean "to be spiritually awakened," or to "attain enlightenment"?


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## SoLaTiDoberman

Isidore Demsky said:


> Thank you.
> 
> I understand what you're saying, but I'm not sure "realize" is really a good example.
> 
> In English, I think to "realize" something does kind of imply that that something is true (though I don't think the word "perceive" really does that.)
> 
> 
> _
> Oxford Dictionary._



Okay. I'd like to change all the word "realize" in my previous replies to "perceive."
Thanks!


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## karlalou

Isidore Demsky said:


> karlalou said:
> 
> 
> 
> 悟る is a verb. You can see the definitions here.
> 悟り is a noun. You can see the definitions here.
> 
> 
> 
> Is either the verb or the noun pronounced goh?
Click to expand...

To mean 'perceive' or 'realize' or 'spiritual awakening', the Japanese word is 悟る（さとる） or 悟り（さとり）.
For us Japanese, what I can think of right this moment, 'goh' alone is ５ or 語(word) or 碁(a board game) or 御 to add politeness or respect.
The Chinese letter 悟 read as 'goh' is not considered as a word, but it's just a letter, like what 'm' or 'c' or any one letter means in English. Only the Chinese character has meanings like a tarot card has meanings. But what we Japanese imagine from the sound 'goh' is most likely ５ or 語 or 碁, and it's impossible for us to imagine 悟り from just hearing the sound 'goh', while hearing 'sah-toh-rhi', we understand it's nothing else but 'realization' or 'spiritual enlightenment', and even we don't need any context at all for this.

We read 悟 'goh' only as part of a 熟語 such as 覚悟(kahkoo-goh).


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## Schokolade

Isidore Demsky said:


> Is either the verb or the noun pronounced goh?
> So  悟り and 悟る are pronounced goh



No, 悟り and 悟る are read as 'sato-ri' and 'sato-ru' respectively.

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The reading 'go' for the characters 悟 and 誤 is 'On'yomi' (Sino-Japanese reading). You read them as 'go' in Kanji compounds/Sino-Japanese words (漢語), e.g. 誤解(gokai), 覚悟(kakugo).

The reading 'sato' for 悟 is 'Kun'yomi' (Japanese reading), and the native Japanese words 悟る(verb) and 悟り(noun form) are read as 'satoru' and 'satori' respectively, just as 誤る(verb) and 誤り(noun form) are read as 'ayamaru' and 'ayamari' in 'Kun'yomi'.


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