仮名
Japanese
Etymology 1
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
仮 | 名 |
か(り) Grade: 5 |
な Grade: 1 |
kun’yomi |
From Old Japanese. Compound of 仮 (kari, “borrowing; provisional thing”, cognate with verb 借る karu, “to borrow”, the Old Japanese form of modern 借りる kariru) + 字 (na, “name, character”), from the way that Chinese characters were borrowed for their phonetic values to spell out the sounds of native Japanese words.[1][2]
In contrast to 真名 (mana, “true name, true character”), a synonym for 漢字 (kanji), indicating Chinese characters used for the meaning instead of for their sound.[1][2]
Alternative forms
- 仮字 (rare)
Etymology 2
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
仮 | 名 |
かり > かん Grade: 5 |
な Grade: 1 |
Irregular |
/karina/ → /kanna/
Contraction of karina above.
Alternative forms
- 仮字 (rare)
Pronunciation
- (Irregular reading)
- IPA(key): [kã̠nːa̠]
Noun
仮名 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 假名, hiragana かんな, rōmaji kanna)
- a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
- a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana
Etymology 3
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
仮 | 名 |
か Grade: 5 |
な Grade: 1 |
Irregular |
/karina/ → /kanna/ → /kana/
Contraction of kanna above. The reading may appear to be jūbakoyomi, but is instead actually an irregular development of the kun'yomi.
Alternative forms
- 仮字 (rare)
Noun
仮名 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 假名, hiragana かな, rōmaji kana)
- a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
- a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana
- 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho (page 86)
- Cana. カナ (仮名・仮字) 日本の文字の一種. Cananiyù. (仮名に言ふ) 皆の人がわかるように, やさしく話す.
- 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho (page 86)
Derived terms
- 振り仮名 (furigana)
- 変体仮名 (hentaigana)
- 平仮名 (hiragana)
- 以呂波仮名 (irohagana)
- 異体仮名 (itaigana)
- 上代仮名 (jōdaigana)
- 仮名文 (kanabumi)
- 片仮名 (katakana)
- 訓仮名 (kungana)
- 真仮名 (magana)
- 豆仮名 (mamegana)
- 万葉仮名 (man'yōgana)
- 送り仮名 (okurigana)
- 音仮名 (ongana)
- 女仮名 (onnagana)
- 男仮名 (otokogana)
- 草仮名 (sōgana)
- 助仮名 (sukegana)
- 捨て仮名 (sutegana)
- 裏仮名 (uragana)
- 総仮名 (sōgana)
- 付け仮名 (tsukegana)
- 読み仮名 (yomigana)
- 四つ仮名 (yotsugana)
Etymology 4
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
仮 | 名 |
か Grade: 5 |
めい Grade: 1 |
on’yomi |
From Middle Chinese 假名 (kæX mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”). Kan'on, so probably a somewhat later borrowing from Chinese. Compare modern Cantonese reading gaa2 meng4-2.
Etymology 5
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
仮 | 名 |
け Grade: 5 |
みょう Grade: 1 |
on’yomi |
/kemjau/ → /kemjɔː/ → /kemjoː/
From Middle Chinese 假名 (kæX mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”). Goon, so probably an earlier borrowing from Chinese. Compare modern Min Nan reading ké-miâ.
The Buddhist sense derives from use of this term in Chinese as a translation of the Sanskrit term प्रज्ञप्ति (prajñapti, “appointing → provisional naming”), used in some Buddhist schools to refer to the practice of conceptualising and naming things that are not real.
Noun
仮名 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 假名, hiragana けみょう, rōmaji kemyō, historical hiragana けみやう)
- an assumed name: an alias, sobriquet, pen name
- in feudal Japan, a public name given to boys upon coming of age, after which their birth names would be kept private
- a provisional name given to someone when the real name is unknown: compare English Jane Doe, John Doe
- (Buddhism) the conceptualisation and provisional naming of things that are not real; something so named
Synonyms
- (alias): 変名 (henmei): changed name; 偽名 (gimei): false or fictitious name
- (public name): 呼び名 (yobina): calling or addressing name; 通称 (tsūshō): common appellation; 俗称 (zokushō): popular or everyday appellation
Antonyms
References
- 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
- 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3
- 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0
- Doi, Tadao (1603–1604) Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1980, ISBN 978-4-00-080021-1.