Translingual

Han character

巌 (radical 46 山+17, 20 strokes, cangjie input 山火一大 (UFMK), composition ⿱山厳)

1. cliff, precipice
2. cave, grotto

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 322, character 29
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8624
• Dae Jaweon: page 622, character 42
• Hanyu Da Zidian: not present, would follow volume 1, page 806, character 16
• Unihan data for U+5DCC

Chinese

Japanese

Etymology

Japanese shinjitai. Simplified from 巖

A compound of iha "stone" and ho "surface".

Historically /ihaho/. /h/ underwent a number of phonological changes. In intervocalic environments, such as this, *p → ɸ → w. Hence, *ipapo → iɸaɸo → iwawo. The distinction between /o/ and /wo/ was lost early resulting in /o/. Hence, [iwao].

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

Readings

• On: がん (gan)
• Kun: けわしい (kewashii), いわお (iwao)

Noun

巌 ‎(hiragana いわ, romaji iwa, historical hiragana いは)

1. rock

Proper noun

巌 ‎(hiragana いわお, romaji Iwao, historical hiragana いはほ)

1. A male given name