伴 means “accompany, partner”

ともなう · tomonau

Also: consort, bring with, companion

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ともなう

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ハン, バン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 7 strokes

The story

A person (亻) with their half (半): the other half who walks beside you. 伴う is to come with, as risk comes with reward, 伴侶 is a life partner, and 伴奏 is the piano part that accompanies a singer.

Used in 伴う (tomonau, to accompany/involve), 同伴 (douhan, accompanying), and 伴奏 (bansou, musical accompaniment)

More from Apart & Together

• 属 belong
• 併 combine
• 兼 double as
• 孤 solitary
• 唯 only
• 遇 meet
• 隔 separate
• 随 follow along
• 添 add
• 疎 sparse
• 媒 medium
• 寡 few

Learn 伴 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.