唱える
となえる · tonaeru · JLPT N1 · verb-ichidan
to recite
📜 唱 = 口 (mouth) + 昌 (bright): chant aloud, letting the words ring out bright
The stem 唱 (となえ) carries the sense of voicing words with the mouth. Use it for reciting prayers, sutras, poems, or slogans. The verb ending える is standard for this kind of verb.
唱 — mouth 口 + 昌 (bright/prosperous, phonetic)
唱 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The mouth radical 口 signals an action done with the voice, while 昌 supplies the sound and originally meant 'bright' or 'flourishing.' Together they came to mean 'to sing' or 'lead in chanting,' extending to 'call out' or 'proclaim.'