千早振る

From Old Japanese, first attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).

The 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of classical verb 千早ぶ (chihayabu, “to move or act ferociously, with terrible godly power”).[1][2][3]

The use of 振る or 降る to spell furu is an example of phonetic ateji (当て字).

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [t͡ɕiha̠ja̠bɯ̟ᵝɾɯ̟ᵝ]

千早振る (hiragana ちはやぶる, rōmaji chihayaburu)

1. allusion to 宇治 (Uji, a place name, especially of a river crossing)

   from the the sense of “ferocious, violent, raging” used in reference to a specific 氏 (uji, “family, clan”), then punning off the “clan” reading of uji

2. allusion to various 神 (kami, “Shinto deities”) or words beginning with kami

   from the sense of “ferocious, impassionate, mighty” used in reference to various kami

3. allusion to 伊豆 (Izu, a place name)

   by extension from the “ferocious, mighty” sense in reference to the awesome power of kami, punning off the synonym 稜威 (itsu, “awesome power”) to refer to Izu

4. allusion to terms related to kami such as 斎垣 (igaki, “fence enclosing a shrine”), 天の岩戸 (ama no iwato, cave where Amaterasu retreated), 玉の簾 (tama no sudare, “jeweled bamboo screen”), etc.
5. allusion to famous Shinto shrines such as 賀茂 (Kamo), 平野 (Hirano), 三上山 (Mikamiyama), 香椎の宮 (Kashii-no-miya), 布留 (Furu), 斎宮 (Itsuki-no-miya), etc.

For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:千早振る.

• This pillow word is usually written in kana alone.

• 千 (ち)早 (はや)人 (ひと) (chihaya hito), 千 (ち)早 (はや)人 (びと) (chihaya-bito, “strong man”)

千早振る (hiragana ちはやぶる, rōmaji Chihayaburu)

1. the title of a rakugo shaggy-dog story

   from the interpretation of the chihayaburu poem by Ariwara no Narihira (Kokin Wakashū, book 5, poem 294; Hyakunin Isshu, poem 17) as symbolic of hardships

   Synonyms: 竜田川 (Tatsuta-gawa), 百人一首 (Hyakunin Isshu), 無学者 (Mugakusha), 無学者論 (Mugakusha-ron)

2. Synonym of 千早の歌 (Chihaya no uta): a poem used as an insect repellent

   from the first line of the poem: 千早振る卯月八日は... (chihayaburu uzuki yōka wa...)

Some sources may list the rakugo title as Chihayafuru, with an unvoiced -furu ending. This could have been the historical reading at the time of the story's composition in the late 1700s. However, the historical reading is unclear, as marking of 濁音 (dakuon, “voicing”) was inconsistent prior to the spelling reforms of the 20th century.

千早振る (hiragana ちはやぶる, rōmaji chihayaburu)

1. (historical, rare) something old, something that has been around for a long time
   • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho (page 109)[4]

     Chiuayafuru. i. Couſa antigua, ou de muito tempo: Xintǒ.

   likely an extension of the adnominal allusion to kami

   Synonym: 昔 (mukashi)