夜叉

Chinese

		phonetic
simp. and trad. (夜叉)		夜	叉

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit यक्ष (yakṣa).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yèchā

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄝˋ ㄔㄚ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): je⁶ caa¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): iā-chhe

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yèchā → yècha (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄝˋ ㄔㄚ → ㄧㄝˋ ˙ㄔㄚ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yèchå
    • Wade–Giles: yeh⁴-chʻa⁵
    • Yale: yè-cha
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeh.cha
    • Palladius: еча (ječa)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰä⁵⁵/ → /jɛ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰä¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: je⁶ caa¹
    • Yale: yeh chā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: je⁶ tsaa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yé⁶ ca¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛː²² t͡sʰaː⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iā-chhe
    • Tâi-lô: iā-tshe
    • Phofsit Daibuun: iaxzhef
    • IPA (Taipei): /ia³³⁻¹¹ t͡sʰe⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ia³³⁻²¹ t͡sʰe⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: yaeH tsrhea|tsrhae

Rime
Character	夜	叉	叉
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	以 (36)	初 (19)	初 (19)
Final (韻)	麻 (100)	佳 (31)	麻 (98)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	II	II
Fanqie	羊謝切	楚佳切	初加切
Baxter	yaeH	tsrhea	tsrhae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jiaH/	/t͡ʃʰˠɛ/	/t͡ʃʰˠa/
Pan Wuyun	/jiaH/	/ʈ͡ʂʰᵚæ/	/ʈ͡ʂʰᵚa/
Shao Rongfen	/iaH/	/t͡ʃʰæi/	/t͡ʃʰa/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/jiaH/	/ʈ͡ʂʰaɨj/	/ʈ͡ʂʰaɨ/
Li Rong	/iaH/	/t͡ʃʰɛ/	/t͡ʃʰa/
Wang Li	/jĭaH/	/t͡ʃʰai/	/t͡ʃʰa/
Bernard Karlgren	/i̯aH/	/ʈ͡ʂʰai/	/ʈ͡ʂʰa/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yè	chāi	chā
Expected Cantonese Reflex	je6	caai1	caa1

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 夜叉

1. (Buddhism) yaksha (a malevolent spirit)
2. (by extension) a ferocious and hideous looking person
3. (figurative, humorous, dated) wife

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (夜叉):

• → Japanese: 夜(や)叉(しゃ) (yasha)
• → Korean: 야차(夜叉) (yacha)

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Japanese

夜叉 (yasha): a male and female yaksha.

Kanji in this term
夜	叉
や Grade: 2	しゃ Jinmeiyō
on'yomi

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Chinese 夜叉 (yæ^H cha?), itself a transliteration of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Sanskrit यक्ष (yakṣa).

Noun

夜(や)叉(しゃ) • (yasha) ^{←やしや (yasya)?}

1. yaksha, a broad class of nature spirits or minor deities who appear in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology. May be male or female, benevolent or malevolent.
2. (Buddhism) in Buddhism, yakshas are held to be followers of 毘沙門天 (Bishamonten, “Vaiśravaṇa, the chief of the Four Heavenly Kings”), and guardians of the north
3. (figurative) a demon

   あの女(おんな)の子(こ)は怒(おこ)るとまさに夜叉(やしゃ)のようだよ。

   Ano onna no ko wa okoru to masa ni yasha no yō da yo.

   When that girl gets angry, she's a real demon.

Idioms

Idioms

• 夜叉(やしゃ)が馬(うま)を見(み)たよう (yasha ga uma o mita yō): "like when the yaksha saw the horse" → an expression of extreme happiness, from a story of a yaksha who lost his horse

Synonyms

• 薬叉(やくしゃ) (yakusha)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 夜叉五倍子(ヤシャブシ) (yashabushi): , a type of alder tree
• 夜叉竹(ヤシャダケ) (yashadake): , a type of bamboo
• 夜叉柄杓(ヤシャビシャク) (yashabishaku): , a type of flowering plant related to currants and gooseberry
• 夜叉薇(ヤシャゼンマイ) (yashazenmai): , the Japanese lancea flowering fern