澪標

Japanese

FWOTD – 21 January 2020

澪標 (miotsukushi, miozukushi, miojirushi, reihyō): a traditional Japanese daybeacon in Osaka during the Meiji period.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
澪	標
みお Jinmeiyō	つくし > づくし Grade: 4
kun'yomi	irregular

Kanji in this term
澪	標
みお Jinmeiyō	つくし Grade: 4
kun'yomi	irregular

Compound of 澪(みお) (mio, “water channel”) + つ (tsu, Old Japanese possessive particle) + 串(くし) (kushi, “skewer”).

Also encountered with the reading miozukushi. The tsukushi changes to zukushi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Notably, different publishers of the same historical texts appear to alternate between the miotsukushi and miojirushi readings, possibly due to historical or dialectal differences.

Noun

澪(みお)標(つくし) • (miotsukushi) ^{←みをつくし (miwotukusi)?}
(alternative reading hiragana みおづくし, rōmaji miozukushi, historical hiragana みをづくし)

1. a dolphin erected as a daybeacon or daymark: a navigational marker indicating the bounds of a water channel
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3429:
     , text here

     等保都安布美(とほつあふみ)伊奈佐保曽江乃(いなさほそえの)水乎都久思(みをつくし)安礼乎多能米弖(あれをたのめて)安佐麻之物能乎(あさましものを) [Man'yōgana]

     遠(とほつ)江(あふみ)引(いな)佐(さ)細(ほそ)江(え)のみをつくし我(あれ)を頼(たの)めてあさましものを [Modern spelling]

     Tō-tsu-Ōmi Inasa-hosoe no miotsukushi are o tanomete asamashi mono o

     In Tōtsu Ōmi up Inasa Creek there stand the channel stakes―you could have made me follow and left me high and dry.

   Synonyms: 澪木 (miogi); 澪杭 (miokui); 水尾坊木, 澪坊木 (miobōgi)

2. allusion to 尽くし (tsukushi, “exhausting”)
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 12, poem 3162:
     , text here

3. one of the sixty-one famous incense varieties, made from aromatic 伽羅 (kyara) wood with a bitter smell

   Hypernym: 六十一種名香 (rokujūichi shumeikō)

Usage notes

• At the time of the Man'yōshū, the "dolphin" sense referred to those at Tōtōmi Province; during the Heian period the sense was reserved to the markers at the bay of Naniwa, present-day Osaka.
• Since the Heian period, the "dolphin" sense can be used as a 掛詞 (kakekotoba) to pun against the sense of 身を尽くし (mi o tsukushi, literally “exhausting one's body” → “with all one's might, with all one's heart and soul”):
  • c. 951–953, Gosen Wakashū (book 13, poem 860; also Hyakunin Isshu, poem 20)

    わびぬれば今(いま)はた同(おな)じ難(なに)波(は)なるみをつくしても逢(あ)はむとぞ思(おも)ふ

    wabinureba ima hata onaji Naniwa naru mi o tsukushite mo awan to zo omou

    Miserable, now, it is all the same. Channel-markers at Naniwa―even if it costs my life, I will see you again!

Proper noun

澪(みお)標(つくし) • (Miotsukushi) ^{←みをつくし (miwotukusi)?}

1. the fourteenth chapter of The Tale of Genji

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
澪	標
みお Jinmeiyō	しるし > じるし Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Compound of 澪(みお) (mio, “water channel”) + 標(しるし) (shirushi, “mark, sign”). The shirushi changes to jirushi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Notably, different publishers of the same historical texts appear to alternate between the miojirushi and miotsukushi readings, possibly due to historical or dialectal differences.

Alternative forms

• 水脈標

Noun

澪(みお)標(じるし) • (miojirushi) ^{←みをじるし (miwozirusi)?}

1. a dolphin erected as a daybeacon or daymark: a navigational marker indicating the bounds of a water channel
   • 12th century, Sankashū (book 1, poem 217)

     広(ひろ)瀬(せ)川(がは)渡(わた)りの沖(おき)のみをじるし水(み)嵩(かさ)ぞ深(ふか)き五月雨(さみだれ)の頃(ころ)

     Hirose-gawa watari no oki no miojirushi mikasa zo fukaki samidare no koro

     (please add an English translation of this example)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
澪	標
れい Jinmeiyō	ひょう Grade: 4
kan'on

/reiheu/ → /reːhjoː/

From Middle Chinese 澪標 (MC leng pjiew).

Noun

澪(れい)標(ひょう) • (reihyō) ^{←れいへう (reifeu)?}

1. a dolphin erected as a daybeacon or daymark: a navigational marker indicating the bounds of a water channel