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台風

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: 台风, 颱風, and 臺風

Chinese

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Etymology 1

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For pronunciation and definitions of – see 臺風 (“stage presence; stage demeanour”).
(This term is a variant traditional form of 臺風).

Etymology 2

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For pronunciation and definitions of – see 颱風 (“typhoon”).
(This term is a variant traditional form of 颱風).

Japanese

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Kanji in this term
たい
Grade: 2
ふう
Grade: 2
on'yomi
Alternative spelling
颱風 (dated)

Etymology

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First attested in Japanese in 1900 in the katakana form タイフーン (taifūn),[1] itself a borrowing from English typhoon.[1][2][3][4]

Prior to the Meiji era (1868–1912), this kind of severe storm was called a 野分き (nowaki), literally a "field-splitter" for the way the winds would wreak havoc on farms.[5] The term タイフーン (taifūn) then appears in 1900, also attested with spelling 大風 and reading of taifun. Then in 1907 meteorologist Okada Takematsu (岡田武松) scientifically defined what qualifies as this specific type of storm, and then purportedly as phono-semantic matching of the English typhoon, adopted the kyūjitai kanji spelling 颱風 (read as taifū without that final "n") on the basis of Chinese references using the term 颱風 / 台风 (táifēng).[6] This spelling then became common from the Taisho era (1912–1926).[5]

There was likely some influence from Chinese on the form of the Japanese word. In Walter Henry Medhurst's English and Chinese Dictionary of 1847-48, he glossed the English word typhoon as Chinese 太風 / 太风 and 颶風 / 飓风 (jùfēng),[5] the former of which would be read in Japanese as taifū.

The origins of English typhoon are somewhat uncertain, with possible ancient connections to Chinese. See that entry for more.

is a daiyōji replacing .

Pronunciation

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Noun

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(たい)(ふう) (taifū

  1. (meteorology, weather) a tropical storm, with wind speeds over 34 knots (17 m/s)[8]
  2. (generally) a storm, a cyclone, a hurricane, willy willy

Usage notes

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This term is somewhat of a false friend of typhoon. The term タイフーン (taifūn) instead refers to typhoons (with wind speed over 118 km/h).

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 タイフーン”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  2. ^ タイフーン”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  3. 3.0 3.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. 4.0 4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 台風”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[3] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  6. ^ 新村出 [Shinmura Izuru] (November 1943), “颱風小記 [Taifū Shōki, "Short Writings About Typhoons"]”, in 国語学叢録 [Kokugo-gaku Sōroku, Japanese Linguistics Bulletin], 一条書房 [Ichijō Shobō], pages 92-97
  7. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  8. ^ 気象庁 (12 June 2025 (last accessed)), “台風とは”, in 気象庁[4]