I know several Chinese characters but am a relative beginner at Japanese.

I am having trouble, in a dictionary, when I input a sequence of characters,
determining where the letters for one set of syllables are absorbed by one
kanji and which ones are absorbed by the others. For example, take the word
"ukemi" (rear):

[![ukemi in
dictionary](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FV4IP.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FV4IP.png)

  * うけみ
  * 受け身
  * 受身

How do I know which of the following hooks true:

  * 受 = う
  * 受 = うけ
  * 身 = け
  * 身 = けみ

How can I tell, from the dictionary, especially from this single dictionary
entry, which one of these substitutions holds?

Also, how do I know whether these representations are ON'YOMI or KUN'YOMI? Do
some "(kun/on)yomi" have both long and abbreviated forms or something?
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question
kanji dictionary kanji-choice
Understanding kanji: kanji sound boundaries?
Unless you're in a situation involving jukuji-kun readings (where the
characters are wholly disconnected from their pronunciation), you can tell by
knowing the readings of the individual characters:

受: う・ける (among others), keeping in mind that it's an ichidan verb so the verb
stem is うけ-, not う-

身: み (among others)

So, if you know even that 身 is み, you then know that 受+身 can't be う+けみ. (Also,
adding kana _in front of_ kanji is basically unheard of in Japanese outside of
the お- honorific, so if you see both 受け身 and 受身, you can be sure the け is part
of the left side, not the right.)

You can't know from a single dictionary entry. But you can know from the entry
for the word and then the entries for its component kanji (again, excepting
jukuji-kun readings, where there's no connection between the two at all).
You'll be able to tell on'yomi versus kun'yomi in the individual kanji's
entries.
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answer