Question about kanji readings

[jeffreymgibson]

I was looking up the on readings for 人. The on readings I found were : ジン、 ニン

I understand the 1st one, jin. The 2nd reading is what I don't understand. I know ニ is ni, but I can't figure out what to do with ン. According to Wikipedia it means ( n [n] [m] [ŋ] before stop consonants ), but I don't understand what that means. Can anyone explain?

Also, what does the wavy squiggly line mean when it comes after a character in a reading?

Thanks,
Jeffrey

 

[pingtoryan]

The ン　is just that, an n sound. That　ニ is katakana "ni" and not kanji "ni"　（which looks like this: 二, somewhat larger than the katakana), so read "nin" like how you would read "jin", only chaning the front "ji" to "ni".

As for the "wavy squiggly" line that comes after a character...I assume you mean by "~", it means that the sound after that line is not a part of the kanji itself.

I'm sure more advanced folks around who are better at explaining things would do a better job than me...