Japanese

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) かりな [kàríná] (Heiban - [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ɾĩna̠]

Alternative forms

• 仮字 (rare)

Noun

仮名 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 假名, hiragana かりな, romaji 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

Antonyms

Synonyms

Etymology 2

/karina/ → /kanna/

Contraction of karina above.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [kã̠nna̠]

Alternative forms

• 仮字 (rare)

Noun

仮名 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 假名, hiragana かんな, romaji 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.

Pronunciation

• Jūbakoyomi
• (Tokyo) かな [kàná] (Heiban - [0])^[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [kã̠na̠]

Alternative forms

• 仮字 (rare)

Noun

仮名 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 假名, hiragana かな, romaji 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.

Derived terms

Etymology 4

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

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) かめい [kàméé] (Heiban - [0])^[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠me̞ː]

Noun

仮名 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 假名, hiragana かめい, romaji kamei)

1. an assumed name: an alias, sobriquet, pen name

Antonyms

Synonyms

Etymology 5

/kemjau/ → /kemjɔː/ → /kemjoː/

From Middle Chinese 假名 ‎(kæ^X 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.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) けみょう [kèmyóó] (Heiban - [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ke̞mjo̞ː]

Noun

仮名 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 假名, hiragana けみょう, romaji kemyō, historical hiragana けみやう)

1. an assumed name: 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

Antonyms

Synonyms

References

1. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
3. 1 2 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
4. 1 2 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, ISBN 978-4-00-080021-1, published 1980.