仮名

Japanese

Etymology 1

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.

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.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かりな (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

仮(かり)名(な) • (karina) 

1. a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
2. a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana
3. a temporary name, an alias

Synonyms

Antonyms

Etymology 2

/karina/ → /kanna/

Contraction of karina above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

仮(かん)名(な) • (kanna) 

1. a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
2. a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana

Etymology 3

/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.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かな (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

仮(か)名(な) • (kana) 

1. a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
2. 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.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese 假名 (MC kaeX|kaeH mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”) 假名 (kæ^X mjieng). The kan'on reading, so probably a somewhat later borrowing from Chinese. Compare modern Cantonese reading gaa² meng^4-2.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かめー (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

仮(か)名(めい) • (kamei) 

1. pseudonym, alias, sobriquet, pen name

Synonyms

Antonyms

Etymology 5

/kemjau/ → /kemjɔː/ → /kemjoː/

From Middle Chinese 假名 (MC kaeX|kaeH mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”) 假名 (kæ^X mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”). The goon reading, 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 Sanskrit प्रज्ञप्ति (prajñapti, “appointing → provisional naming”), used in some Buddhist schools to refer to the practice of conceptualising and naming things that are not real.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) けみょー (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

仮(け)名(みょう) • (kemyō) ^{←けみやう (kemyau)?}

1. a pseudonym, an alias, sobriquet, pen name
2. in feudal Japan, a public name given to boys upon coming of age, after which their birth names would be kept private
3. a provisional name given to someone when the real name is unknown: compare English Jane Doe, John Doe
4. (Buddhism) the conceptualisation and provisional naming of things that are not real; something so named

Synonyms

Antonyms

References

• Doi, Tadao (1603–1604) Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1980, →ISBN.