青空

Japanese

Kanji in this term
青	空

Etymology

Compound of 青 (ao, “blue”) +‎ 空 (sora, “sky”). The sora changes to zora due to rendaku (連濁).

The reading was aosora until roughly the mid-Meiji Period. The shift to rendaku pronunciation has been relatively recent.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: /a.o.zo.ra/, [äo̞zo̞ɽä]

Noun

青空 (hiragana あおぞら, romaji aozora, historical hiragana あをぞら)

1. a blue sky, a clear sky
2. (when preceding another noun) outdoors, in the open, open-air

   青空市場

   あおぞらいちば
   aozora ichiba

   an open-air market

Synonyms

• (clear sky): 碧空 (へきくう, hekikū), 碧天 (へきてん, hekiten)
• (outdoors): 屋外 (おくがい, okugai), 露天 (ろてん, roten)