天皇

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Chinese

day; sky; heaven emperor; surname
simp. and trad.
(天皇)
anagram 皇天
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Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “what is etymology of Chinese sense?”)

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial () (6) (33)
Final () (85) (102)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Closed
Division () IV I
Fanqie
Baxter then hwang
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/tʰen/ /ɦwɑŋ/
Pan
Wuyun
/tʰen/ /ɦʷɑŋ/
Shao
Rongfen
/tʰɛn/ /ɣuɑŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/tʰɛn/ /ɦwaŋ/
Li
Rong
/tʰen/ /ɣuɑŋ/
Wang
Li
/tʰien/ /ɣuɑŋ/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/tʰien/ /ɣwɑŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
tiān huáng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
tin1 wong4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
tiān huáng
Middle
Chinese
‹ then › ‹ hwang ›
Old
Chinese
/*l̥ˁi/ /*ʷˁaŋ/
English heaven sovereign

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 12387 12696
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1 0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*qʰl'iːn/ /*ɡʷaːŋ/
Notes

Noun

天皇

  1. king of heaven; heavenly sovereign; (figurative) emperor
  2. emperor or empress (regnant) of Japan

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (天皇):

Further reading

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
てん
Grade: 1
おう > のう
Grade: 6
goon
Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

/ten wau//tenwɔː//tenːɔː//tenːoː/

From Middle Chinese 天皇 (MC then hwang) with the original sense of “heavenly sovereign”.

The 呉音 (goon, literally Wu sound) pronunciation, so likely the initial borrowing from Middle Chinese. The ō reading for changes to as an instance of renjō (連声).

Pronunciation

Noun

(てん)(のう) (tennōてんわう (ten'wau)?

  1. an Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan
    Synonyms: 内の上 (uchi no ue), 皇天 (kōten), 内裏 (dairi), 天子 (tenshi), (mikado)
    (てん)(のう)(へい)()tennō HeikaYour/His Majesty the Emperor/Her Majesty the Empress (Regnant)
    (めい)()(てん)(のう)Meiji tennōEmperor Meiji
  2. (usually in Chinese contexts) an emperor, ruler, or other monarch with a heavenly mandate
    Synonym: 天子 (tenshi)
  3. (by extension) a person having a strength or profession in a particular field of study or expertise
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Descendants

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
てん
Grade: 1
こう
Grade: 6
kan'on
Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

/ten kʷau//tenkʷɔː//tenkɔː//tenkoː/

From Middle Chinese 天皇 (MC then hwang).

The 漢音 (kan'on, literally Han sound) pronunciation, so likely a later borrowing from Middle Chinese.

Pronunciation

Noun

(てん)(こう) (tenkōてんくわう (tenkwau)?

  1. (usually in Chinese contexts) an emperor, ruler, or other monarch with a heavenly mandate
    Synonym: 天子 (tenshi)

Proper noun

(てん)(こう) (Tenkōてんくわう (Tenkwau)?

  1. (Chinese mythology) the first of the Three Sovereigns, possibly 伏羲 (Fukki, Fu Xi)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
すべらぎ
Grade: 1 Grade: 6
jukujikun
Alternative spelling

/sumeraɡi//suberaɡi/

Shift from sumeragi below, with the nasal /m/ becoming a plosive /b/.

The kanji spelling is from tennō above.

Pronunciation

Noun

天皇(すべらぎ) (suberagi

  1. (archaic) a term of address for an Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan
Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:天皇.

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
すめらぎ
Grade: 1 Grade: 6
jukujikun
Alternative spelling

⟨sume1ro2ki1 → */sumʲerəkʲi/ → */sumeraki//sumeraɡi/

Possibly a shift from Old Japanese 天皇 (sume1ro2ki1).

The kanji spelling is from tennō above.

Pronunciation

Noun

天皇(すめらぎ) (sumeragi

  1. (honorific, archaic) a term of address for an Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan
Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:天皇.

Derived terms

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
すめらぎみ
Grade: 1 Grade: 6
jukujikun

From (sumera-, prefix of praise and respect) +‎ (kimi, lord, mastersovereign). The kimi changes to gimi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

The kanji spelling is from tennō above.

Pronunciation

Noun

天皇(すめらぎみ) (sumeragimi

  1. (honorific, archaic) a term of address for an Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan
Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:天皇.

Etymology 6

Kanji in this term
すめらみこと
Grade: 1 Grade: 6
jukujikun
Alternative spelling
皇尊

From Old Japanese.

From (sumera-, prefix of praise and respect) +‎ (mikoto, Highness).

The kanji spelling is from tennō above.

Pronunciation

Noun

天皇(すめらみこと) (sumeramikoto

  1. (honorific, archaic) a term of address for an Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan
    (はつ)馭天下之(くにしらす)天皇(すめらみこと)
    Hatsu Kunishirasu Sumeramikoto
    the First Founding Emperor
Derived terms

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ 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

Anagrams

Korean

Hanja in this term

Noun

天皇 (cheonhwang) (hangeul 천황)

  1. hanja form? of 천황 (Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan)

Old Japanese

Etymology 1

Possibly from (sume1ro2-, apophonic form of sume1ra-, prefix of praise and respect) +‎ (ki1mi1, lord, mastersovereign), with the final mi1 dropping due to poetic reasons.

The kanji spelling is an orthographic borrowing from Middle Chinese 天皇 (MC then hwang).

Noun

天皇 (sume1ro2ki1) (kana すめろき)

  1. (honorific) a sovereign who governs a region
  2. (by extension, honorific) a term of address for an Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan
  3. (by extension) the imperial lineage or family line
  4. the Emperor's reign
Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:天皇.

Descendants
  • Japanese: 天皇 (sumeragi, suberagi)

Etymology 2

From (sume1ra-, prefix of praise and respect) +‎ (mi1ko2to2, Highness).

The kanji spelling is an orthographic borrowing from Middle Chinese 天皇 (MC then hwang).

Alternative forms

Noun

天皇 (sume1rami1ko2to2) (kana すめらみこと)

  1. (honorific) a term of address for an Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan
Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:天皇.

Derived terms
Descendants

See also

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term

Noun

天皇

  1. chữ Hán form of thiên hoàng (an Emperor or Empress Regnant of Japan).
    Synonym: 日皇 (Nhật hoàng)
    天皇明治 (Thiên hoàng Minh Trị)
    Emperor Meiji