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まだ薄暗【うすぐら】い中【?】、子【こ】どもたちが集【あつ】まってきた

_It was still dimly lit, but the children had gathered._

<https://www.fnn.jp/articles/-/279297>

Here (<https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/41086/31150>) it says...

_Since it is an individual word, it should be pronounced as なか. じゅう(or ちゅう) is
used only when 中 is an affix (attached to a noun)._

In the FNN sentence above, the 薄暗【うすぐら】い looks like an attributive adjective
modfiying 中 , which suggests that it should be pronounced as なか ... right?
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2022-04-15T08:05:07.330
94127
2022-04-15T11:08:02.437
31150
question
readings multiple-readings
中【ちゅう】? 中【じゅう】? 中【ぢゅう】? 中【なか】?
Yes, it is なか. Slightly more generally, adjective + 中 meaning _in the middle
of adj._ is read なか as far as I can think of. E.g. 忙しい[中]{なか}, 天気の悪い[中]{なか}.

More generally, there is probably no clear rules, i.e., it depends on words
whether it is ちゅう or じゅう or なか (じゅう and ぢゅう are not distinguished in modern
Japanese).

* * *

A basic difference is that なか/ちゅう means _in the middle of_ while じゅう means
_throughout, all over (some range)_ , but not entirely correct. For example,
午前[中]{ちゅう} can mean both (午前中誰か来た/午前中はいません). A further complication is
午前[中]{ちゅう}[中]{じゅう} is possible at least colloquially (maybe a bit odd, but
definitely understood). Also, 午後[中]{じゅう} is the only possibility which means
_throughout the afternoon_. _Some time in the afternoon_ is simply 午後 and
never 午後[中]{ちゅう}.

Some more examples: [海中]{かいちゅう} = inside the sea; [海中]{うみじゅう} = all over the
sea (as far as can be seen); [山中]{やまなか} = [山中]{さんちゅう} = (somewhere) inside the
mountain; [山中]{やまじゅう} = all over the mountain.

* * *

Relevant threads on or off this SE.

  * [中(なか) vs 中(ちゅう) ](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/61307/%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%AA%E3%81%8B-vs-%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%A1%E3%82%85%E3%81%86)
  * [How do we decide if 中 is ちゅう or じゅう?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/2790/45489)
  * [~中（ちゅう・じゅう）](https://www.tomojuku.com/blog/chuju/)
  * [中（ちゅう）と中（じゅう）の違いは？](https://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/3537032.html)
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2022-04-15T11:08:02.437
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2022-04-15T11:08:02.437
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answer