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Or is it just my dictionary that made a mistake?
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2016-10-20T15:46:41.597
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2016-10-20T16:16:53.717
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question
translation word-choice words
If Japanese rice wine is called Sake then why is a liquor shop called a Saka-ya?
Your dictionary is correct. Knowing the history of words is not my specialty,
but I think I have something to contribute as a fellow learner, anyway...in
present day Japanese, you could say **kanji have multiple readings that depend
on the context in which they are used**. That is, it depends on the word in
which the kanji is included, and/or if other words/grammar constructs are
present in a sentence. (See [this jisho
page](http://jisho.org/search/%E9%85%92%20%23kanji) and notice the multiple
readings)

In the case of 酒, the kanji is read as "sake". And 酒屋 is read as "saka-ya".
Obviously, "sake" is not the same as "saka", so this particular word would be
one of those situations to memorize.
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2016-10-20T16:16:53.717
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2016-10-20T16:16:53.717
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