仮名

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
仮	名
かり Grade: 5	な Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai) 仮字 (rare)

From Old Japanese. Compound of 仮 (kari, “borrowing; provisional thing”, cognate with verb 借る karu, “to borrow”, the Old Japanese form of modern 借りる kariru) +‎ 字 (na, “name, character”), from the way that Chinese characters were borrowed for their phonetic values to spell out the sounds of native Japanese words.^[1]^[2]

In contrast to 真名 (mana, “true name, true character”), a synonym for 漢字 (kanji), indicating Chinese characters used for the meaning instead of for their sound.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) かりな [kàríná] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [ka̠ɾʲina̠]

Noun

仮(かり)名(な) • (karina)

a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana
a temporary name, an alias

Synonyms

(alias): 変名(へんめい) (henmei): changed name; 偽名(ぎめい) (gimei): false or fictitious name

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “alias”): 実名(じつめい) (jitsumei): actual name; 本名(ほんみょう) (honmyō): real name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
仮	名
かり > かん Grade: 5	な Grade: 1
irregular	kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai) 仮字 (rare)

/karina/ → /kanna/

Contraction of karina above.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kã̠nːa̠]

Noun

仮(かん)名(な) • (kanna)

a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
仮	名
かり > か Grade: 5	な Grade: 1
irregular	kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
假名 (kyūjitai) 仮字 (rare)

/karina/ → /kanna/ → /kana/

Contraction of kanna above. The reading may appear to be jūbakoyomi, but is instead actually an irregular development of the kun'yomi.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) かな [kàná] (Heiban – [0])^[3]^[2]^[4]
IPA^(key): [ka̠na̠]

Noun

仮(か)名(な) • (kana)

a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana
- 1603, Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam (Nippo Jisho) [Vocabulary of the Language of Japan] (in Portuguese), Nagasaki, page 86:
  Cana. カナ (仮名・仮字) 日本の文字の一種. Cananiyù. (仮名に言ふ) 皆の人がわかるように, やさしく話す.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
仮	名
か Grade: 5	めい Grade: 1
kan'on

Alternative spelling
假名 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese [Term?] 假名 (MC kaeX|kaeH mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”) 假名 (kæ^X mjieng). The kan'on reading, so probably a somewhat later borrowing from Chinese. Compare modern Cantonese reading gaa² meng^4-2.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) かめー [kàméé] (Heiban – [0])^[3]^[2]^[4]
IPA^(key): [ka̠me̞ː]

Noun

仮(か)名(めい) • (kamei)

pseudonym, alias, sobriquet, pen name

Synonyms

変名(へんめい) (henmei): changed name; 偽名(ぎめい) (gimei): false or name

Antonyms

実名(じつめい) (jitsumei): actual name
本名(ほんみょう) (honmyō): real name

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
仮	名
け Grade: 5	みょう Grade: 1
goon

Alternative spelling
假名 (kyūjitai)

/kemjau/ → /kemjɔː/ → /kemjoː/

From Middle Chinese 假名 (MC kaeX|kaeH mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”) 假名 (kæ^X mjieng, literally “borrowed; false + name”). The goon reading, so probably an earlier borrowing from Chinese. Compare modern Min Nan reading ké-miâ.

The Buddhist sense derives from use of this term in Chinese as a translation of Sanskrit प्रज्ञप्ति (prajñapti, “appointing → provisional naming”), used in some Buddhist schools to refer to the practice of conceptualising and naming things that are not real.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) けみょー [kèmyóó] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [ke̞mʲo̞ː]

Noun

仮(け)名(みょう) • (kemyō) ^{←けみやう (kemyau)^?}

a pseudonym, an alias, sobriquet, pen name
in feudal Japan, a public name given to boys upon coming of age, after which their birth names would be kept private
a provisional name given to someone when the real name is unknown: compare English Jane Doe, John Doe
(Buddhism) the conceptualisation and provisional naming of things that are not real; something so named

Synonyms

(pseudonym): 変名(へんめい) (henmei): changed name; 偽名(ぎめい) (gimei): false name
(public name): 呼(よ)び名(な) (yobina): calling or addressing name; 通称(つうしょう) (tsūshō): common appellation; 俗称(ぞくしょう) (zokushō): popular or everyday appellation

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “alias”): 実名(じつめい) (jitsumei): actual name; 本名(ほんみょう) (honmyō): real name
(antonym(s) of “public name”): 実名(じつめい) (jitsumei): actual name

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 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
↑ ^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

Doi, Tadao (1603–1604) Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1980, →ISBN.

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] 3.0 ^3.1 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

[SMK5-4] 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

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