七夕
Contents |
Japanese [edit]
| Kanji in this term | |
| 七 | 夕 |
Etymology [edit]
Origins somewhat obscure.
The latter bata portion is generally accepted to be from 機 (hata, “a loom”). The hata changes to bata due to rendaku (連濁).
The former tana portion may be from 棚 (tana, “a shelf, or a board placed lengthwise in a bridge”), in reference to an ancient ritual whereby a maiden would weave a special cloth on a hata in order to secure a bountiful harvest, as an offering for a god coming across a body of water via a tana. A related theory states that tana is instead an alteration of 種 (tane, “seed”). Yet another theory states that tana is an alteration of 手 (te, “hand”) + な (na, from possessive particle no).
The common spelling of 七夕 is an example of jukujikun, since the festival is held on the seventh night of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, now generally observed on 7 July.
Pronunciation [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Noun [edit]
七夕 (hiragana たなばた, romaji Tanabata)
- the Tanabata Japanese star festival
- a type of loom (the original meaning)
- a type of weaving
- by extension, a weaver
- (figuratively) any extremely rare visit, or the person so visiting
Synonyms [edit]
- 七夕祭り (たなばたまつり, Tanabata matsuri)
- 星祭り (ほしまつり, Hoshi matsuri)
- 七日盆 (なぬかぼん, Nanuka Bon)
See also [edit]
- List of festivals in Japan on Wiktionary
- List of festivals in Japan on Wikipedia
