天花

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	flower; blossom; to spend flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern
trad. (天花)		天	花
simp. #(天花)		天	花
Literally: “heaven flower”.

Etymology

Originally the Chinese translation of several Sanskrit and Pali words, including Sanskrit खपुष्प (khapuṣpa, “flower in the sky”), as well as several plant names, such as Sanskrit दिव्यपुष्प (divyapuṣpa, “oleander [heaven-flower]”) / Pali devapuppha, and Sanskrit शालपुष्प (śālapuṣpa, “confederate rose [house-flower]”).

The development from “heaven-flower” (or other interpretations of the combination) to “smallpox” is unknown. It may be due to the shape resemblance of smallpox pustules to the divine flowers in Buddhism. Compare Tibetan ལྷ་འབྲུམ (lha 'brum, “smallpox [deva-pustule]”), མེ་ཏོག (me tog, “flower; (dialectal) smallpox”), and Mongolian ᠰᠠᠯᠬᠢᠨ
ᠴᠡᠴᠡᠭ (salkin čečeg) / салхин цэцэг (salxin ceceg, “smallpox; chickenpox [wind-flower]”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiānhuā

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄨㄚ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ faa¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): thiên-fâ
• Eastern Min (BUC): tiĕng-huă
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thian-hoa / thian-hoe
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹thi-ho

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiānhuā
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄨㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tianhua
    • Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-hua¹
    • Yale: tyān-hwā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianhua
    • Palladius: тяньхуа (tjanʹxua)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ xu̯ä⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiānhuār
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄨㄚㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tianhuar
    • Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-hua¹-ʼrh
    • Yale: tyān-hwār
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianhual
    • Palladius: тяньхуар (tjanʹxuar)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ xu̯ɑɻ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tin¹ faa¹
    • Yale: tīn fā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ faa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ fa¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ faː⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thiên-fâ
    • Hakka Romanization System: tien^ˊ fa^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: tian¹ fa¹
    • Sinological IPA: /tʰi̯en²⁴⁻¹¹ fa²⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: tiĕng-huă
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰieŋ⁵⁵ ^(h-)ŋua⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-hoa
    • Tâi-lô: thian-hua
    • Phofsit Daibuun: tienhoaf
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ hua⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² hua⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰiɛn³³ hua³³/
  • (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-hoe
    • Tâi-lô: thian-hue
    • Phofsit Daibuun: tienhoef
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ hue⁴⁴/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹thi-ho
    • MiniDict: thi^平 ho
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹thi-ho
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tʰi⁵⁵ ho²¹/

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• Middle Chinese: then xwae

Rime
Character	天	花
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	透 (6)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	先 (85)	麻 (99)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	IV	II
Fanqie	他前切	呼瓜切
Baxter	then	xwae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tʰen/	/hˠua/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰen/	/hʷᵚa/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɛn/	/xua/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰɛn/	/hwaɨ/
Li Rong	/tʰen/	/xua/
Wang Li	/tʰien/	/xwa/
Bernard Karlgren	/tʰien/	/xwa/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tiān	huā
Expected Cantonese Reflex	tin1	faa1

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 天花

1. (Buddhism) flower of the sky; divine flower, stated in the Lotus Sutra as of four kinds, two white and two red
2. (literary, poetic) snowflake; snow
3. (pathology) smallpox; variola

Synonyms

• (flower of the sky): 天華／天华, 空華／空华
• (snowflake): 雪花 (xuěhuā)
• (smallpox): 痘瘡／痘疮 (dòuchuāng)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (天花):

• → Japanese: 天花(てんか) (tenka)
• → Korean: 천화(天花) (cheonhwa)
• → Vietnamese: thiên hoa (天花)

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
天	花
てん Grade: 1	か Grade: 1
on'yomi

Noun

天(てん)花(か) • (tenka) 

1. snow
2. a flower that blossoms in the Buddhist heaven by their tale.
3. lotus-petal-shaped confetti scattering before the mortuary tablet.