54848
謳

I saw this character in a manga today and it was the first time I'd seen it.
Is this kanji something most native speakers would recognize?
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2017-11-29T21:09:30.973
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question
kanji
Native speakers, do you recognize the kanji 謳?
I would say many would partly because 「青春{せいしゅん}を謳歌{おうか}する」("to really enjoy
one's youth") is such a common set phrase.

Literally, that means "to sing the praises of youth".
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2017-11-30T00:33:31.017
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answer
I think virtually every adult native speaker knows this kanji (well, at least
how to read it). The two _formal_ meanings of 謳う listed in any dictionary are
"to openly celebrate/praise/glorify/enjoy" and "to publicly declare". See:
[jisho.org](http://jisho.org/word/%E8%AC%B3%E3%81%86) and [this
entry](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/je/5448/meaning/m0u/%E8%AC%B3%E3%81%86/).
In these senses, using 歌う is absolutely incorrect.

>   * この世の平和を謳う。
>   * クレオパトラは絶世の美女だと謳われている。
>   * それは頭痛に効くと謳われている薬です。
>   * アメリカ合衆国憲法修正第2条は国民が武器を持つ権利を謳っている。
>

But you can always avoid using difficult kanji and stick to hiragana うたう. See
[this discussion](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/17460/5010), too.

In addition, this is one of those kanji used in aesthetic writings to add some
literary/poetic flavor (like
[護る](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/16155/5010) vs 守る, 哭く vs 泣く). うたう
meaning "to sing" has many variations including 歌う, 謳う, 唄う, 謡う and 唱う. In
lyrics, 謳 is used somewhat arbitrarily, and the difference may not be very
important.
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2017-11-30T02:37:37.797
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answer