仮名

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
かり
Grade: 5

Grade: 1
kun'yomi
Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai)
仮字 (rare)

From Old Japanese. Compound of (kari, borrowing; provisional thing, cognate with verb 借る karu, “to borrow”, the Old Japanese form of modern 借りる kariru) +‎ (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]

Pronunciation

Noun

(かり)() (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

Kanji in this term
かり > かん
Grade: 5

Grade: 1
irregular kun'yomi
Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai)
仮字 (rare)

/karina//kanna/

Contraction of karina above.

Pronunciation

Noun

(かん)() (kanna

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

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
かり > か
Grade: 5

Grade: 1
irregular kun'yomi
Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai)
仮字 (rare)

/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

Noun

()() (kana

  1. a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
  2. a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana
    • 1603, Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam (Nippo Jisho) [Vocabulary of the Language of Japan] (in Portuguese), Nagasaki, 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

Kanji in this term

Grade: 5
めい
Grade: 1
kan'on
Alternative spelling
假名 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese 假名 (MC kaeX|kaeH mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”) 假名 (X mjieng). The kan'on reading, so probably a somewhat later borrowing from Chinese. Compare modern Cantonese reading gaa2 meng4-2.

Pronunciation

Noun

()(めい) (kamei

  1. pseudonym, alias, sobriquet, pen name
Synonyms
Antonyms

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term

Grade: 5
みょう
Grade: 1
goon
Alternative spelling
假名 (kyūjitai)

/kemjau//kemjɔː//kemjoː/

From Middle Chinese 假名 (MC kaeX|kaeH mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”) 假名 (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

Noun

()(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

  1. 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 3.0 3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  4. 4.0 4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN