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If you're familiar with onyomi and kunyomi, it is somewhat safe to assume that many onyomi readings are more limited than an existing equivalent kunyomi counterpart. The reason for this is that kanji were not borrowed from China as a systematic whole, but in bits of pieces during different eras, and that the original purpose of these borrowings was to convey concepts that may previously have not existed and/or could be more elaborately stated in Chinese characters. Of course, there are exceptions.
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