仮名

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
仮	名
かり Grade: 5	な Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai) 仮字 (rare)

From Old Japanese. Compound of 仮 (kari, “borrowing; provisional thing”, cognate with verb 借る karu, “to borrow”, the Old Japanese form of modern 借りる kariru) +‎ 字 (na, “name, character”), from the way that Chinese characters were borrowed for their phonetic values to spell out the sounds of native Japanese words.

In contrast to 真名 (mana, “true name, true character”), a synonym for 漢字 (kanji), indicating Chinese characters used for the meaning instead of for their sound.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かりな [kàríná] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ɾʲina̠]

Noun

仮(かり)名(な) • (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

Synonyms

Synonyms

• (alias): 変名(へんめい) (henmei): changed name; 偽名(ぎめい) (gimei): false or fictitious name

Antonyms

Antonyms

• (alias): 実名(じつめい) (jitsumei): actual name; 本名(ほんみょう) (honmyō): real name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
仮	名
かり > かん Grade: 5	な Grade: 1
irregular	kun’yomi

Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai) 仮字 (rare)

/karina/ → /kanna/

Contraction of karina above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kã̠nːa̠]

Noun

仮(かん)名(な) • (kanna) 

1. a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
2. a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
仮	名
かり > か Grade: 5	な Grade: 1
irregular	kun’yomi

Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai) 仮字 (rare)

/karina/ → /kanna/ → /kana/

Contraction of kanna above. The reading may appear to be jūbakoyomi, but is instead actually an irregular development of the kun'yomi.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かな [kàná] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠na̠]

Noun

仮(か)名(な) • (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

Derived terms

• 振(ふ)り仮名(がな) (furigana)
• 変体仮名(へんたいがな) (hentaigana)
• 平仮名(ひらがな) (hiragana)
• 以呂波仮名(いろはがな) (irohagana)
• 異体仮名(いたいがな) (itaigana)
• 上代仮名(じょうだいがな) (jōdaigana)
• 仮名文(かなぶみ) (kanabumi)
• 片仮名(かたかな) (katakana)
• 訓仮名(くんがな) (kungana)
• 真仮名(まがな) (magana)
• 豆仮名(まめがな) (mamegana)
• 万葉仮名(まんようがな) (man'yōgana)
• 送(おく)り仮名(がな) (okurigana)
• 音仮名(おんがな) (ongana)
• 女仮名(おんながな) (onnagana)
• 男仮名(おとこがな) (otokogana)
• 草仮名(そうがな) (sōgana)
• 助仮名(すけがな) (sukegana)
• 捨(す)て仮名(がな) (sutegana)
• 裏仮名(うらがな) (uragana)
• 総仮名(そうがな) (sōgana)
• 付(つ)け仮名(がな) (tsukegana)
• 読(よ)み仮名(がな) (yomigana)
• 四(よ)つ仮名(がな) (yotsugana)

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
仮	名
か Grade: 5	めい Grade: 1
kan’on

Alternative spelling
假名 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese [Term?] 假名 (MC kˠaX|kˠaH miᴇŋ, literally “borrowed; false + name”) 假名 (kæ^X mjieng). The kan'on reading, so probably a somewhat later borrowing from Chinese. Compare modern Cantonese reading gaa² meng^4-2.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かめー [kàméé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠me̞ː]

Noun

仮(か)名(めい) • (kamei) 

1. pseudonym, alias, sobriquet, pen name

Synonyms

Synonyms

• 変名(へんめい) (henmei): changed name; 偽名(ぎめい) (gimei): false or name

Antonyms

Antonyms

• 実名(じつめい) (jitsumei): actual name
• 本名(ほんみょう) (honmyō): real name

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
仮	名
け Grade: 5	みょう Grade: 1
goon

Alternative spelling
假名 (kyūjitai)

/kemjau/ → /kemjɔː/ → /kemjoː/

From Middle Chinese 假名 (MC kˠaX|kˠaH miᴇŋ, literally “borrowed; false + name”) 假名 (kæ^X mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”). The goon reading, 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 Sanskrit 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

• (Tokyo) けみょー [kèmyóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ke̞mʲo̞ː]

Noun

仮(け)名(みょう) • (kemyō) ^{←けみやう (kemyau)?}

1. a pseudonym, 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

Synonyms

Synonyms

• (pseudonym): 変名(へんめい) (henmei): changed name; 偽名(ぎめい) (gimei): false name
• (public name): 呼(よ)び名(な) (yobina): calling or addressing name; 通称(つうしょう) (tsūshō): common appellation; 俗称(ぞくしょう) (zokushō): popular or everyday appellation

Antonyms

Antonyms

• (alias): 実名(じつめい) (jitsumei): actual name; 本名(ほんみょう) (honmyō): real name
• (public name): 実名(じつめい) (jitsumei): actual name

References

• Doi, Tadao (1603–1604) Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1980, →ISBN.