招き猫
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Japanese
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Kanji in this term | |
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招 | 猫 |
まね Grade: 5 |
ねこ Grade: S |
kun'yomi |
Alternative spelling |
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招猫 |
Etymology
[edit]Compound of 招き (maneki, “beckoning, inviting”, continuative or stem of verb 招く (maneku, “to beckon, to invite”)) + 猫 (neko, “cat”).[1][2][3][4][5]
First cited to 1893,[1] although physical examples are found earlier in the Edo period.
In Japanese culture, holding one's hand with the palm downwards and waving vertically is a gesture used to beckon someone. This is somewhat similar to an upside-down version of the beckoning gesture used in US culture. The way that cats will sometimes wave a front paw in the air is also similar to this Japanese beckoning gesture, giving rise to the iconic image of the maneki neko. This image is often used to beckon customers into a shop.
See the Wikipedia articles for more detail.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]招き猫 • (maneki neko)
- [from at least 1893] maneki-neko, beckoning cat (figure of a cat with one paw raised believed to bring good luck)
Descendants
[edit]- Chinese: 招財貓/招财猫 (zhāocáimāo)
- English: maneki neko
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “招猫”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten][1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ “招き猫”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen][2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
- ^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
- ^ 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
Categories:
- Japanese terms spelled with 招 read as まね
- Japanese terms spelled with 猫 read as ねこ
- Japanese terms read with kun'yomi
- Japanese compound terms
- Japanese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Japanese lemmas
- Japanese nouns
- Japanese terms spelled with fifth grade kanji
- Japanese terms spelled with secondary school kanji
- Japanese terms with 2 kanji