七夕
Chinese
seven | dusk; evening | ||
---|---|---|---|
trad. (七夕) | 七 | 夕 | |
simp. #(七夕) | 七 | 夕 |
Pronunciation
Proper noun
七夕
- (~節) Qixi Festival (the Chinese Valentine's Day, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month)
Synonyms
Derived terms
- 七夕乞巧
- 七夕紅/七夕红
- 七夕錢/七夕钱
- 七夕鍼/七夕针
Descendants
Japanese
Etymology 1
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
七 | 夕 |
たなばた | |
Grade: 1 | Grade: 1 |
jukujikun |
Alternative spellings |
---|
棚機 棚幡 織女 |
Origins somewhat obscure.
The latter bata portion is generally accepted to be from 機 (hata, “a loom”). The hata reading for 機 changes to bata as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
The former tana portion may be from 棚 (tana, “a shelf, or a board placed lengthwise in a bridge”), in reference to an ancient ritual whereby a maiden would weave a special cloth on a hata in order to secure a bountiful harvest, as an offering for a god coming across a body of water via a tana. A related theory states that tana is instead an alteration of 種 (tane, “seed”). Yet another theory states that tana is an alteration of 手 (ta, “hand”, unbound Old Japanese form) + な (na, Old Japanese possessive particle superseded by no).[1]
The common spelling of 七夕 is an example of jukujikun, since the festival is held on the seventh night of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, now generally observed on 7 July.
Noun
七夕 • (tanabata)
Synonyms
- 七夕祭り (Tanabata matsuri)
- 星祭り (Hoshi matsuri)
- 七日盆 (Nanuka Bon)
Further reading
- List of festivals in Japan on Wiktionary
- List of festivals in Japan on Wikipedia
Etymology 2
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
七 | 夕 |
しち Grade: 1 |
せき Grade: 1 |
on’yomi |
From Middle Chinese compound 七夕 (MC tshit zjek, literally “seventh evening”). Compare modern Mandarin 七夕 (Qīxī).
Proper noun
七夕 • (Shichiseki)
- the Tanabata Japanese star festival, observed on 7 July
- the Chinese Qīxī Festival, also sometimes referred to as the Double Seventh Festival
References
- Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN