人妻

人妻

Chinese

		man; person; people	wife; to marry off (a daughter)
simp. and trad. (人妻)		人	妻

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rénqī

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ ㄑㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jan⁴ cai¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: rénqī
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ ㄑㄧ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: renchi
    • IPA ^(key): /ʐən³⁵ t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jan⁴ cai¹
    • Yale: yàhn chāi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jan⁴ tsai¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yen⁴ cei¹
    • IPA ^(key): /jɐn²¹ t͡sʰɐi̯⁵⁵/

Noun

人妻

1. (another person's) wife; married woman

   幸福人妻  ―  xìngfú rénqī  ―  happily married woman

   已成人妻  ―  yǐ chéng rénqī  ―  (of a woman) to be already married

Coordinate terms

• 人夫 (rénfū)

---

Japanese

Kanji in this term
人	妻
ひと Grade: 1	つま > づま Grade: 5
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

• 他妻
• (one's husband): 他夫

Etymology

From 人 (ひと) (hito, “person”) + 妻 (つま) (tsuma, “wife, spouse”).

The tsuma changes to zuma as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) ひとづま [hìtózúmá] (Heiban – [0])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [çito̞zɨᵝma̠]

Noun

人妻 (hiragana ひとづま, rōmaji hitozuma)

1. a married woman
2. one's or other's wife

   Synonym: 妻 (tsuma)

3. (obsolete) by extension of one's or other's spouse, one's or other's husband
   • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 13, poem 3314), text here

     つぎねふ山背 (やましろ)道 (ぢ)を人夫 (ひとづま)の馬 (うま)より行 (ゆ)くに己夫 (おのづま)し徒 (か)歩 (ち)より行 (ゆ)けば見 (み)るごとに音 (ね)のみし泣 (な)かゆそこ思 (おも)ふに心 (こころ)し痛 (いた)したらちねの母 (はは)が形 (かた)見 (み)と我 (わ)が持 (も)てるまそみ鏡 (かがみ)に蜻蛉 (あきづ)領 (ひ)巾 (れ)負 (お)ひ並 (な)め持 (も)ちて馬 (うま)買 (か)へ我 (わ)が背 (せ)

     tsuginefu Yamashiro-ji o hitozuma no uma yori yuku ni onozumashi kachi yori yukeba miru-goto ni ne-nomi shi nakayu soko omou ni kokoro shi itashi tarachine no haha ga katami to waga moteru masomi-kagami ni akizuhire oiname mochite umakae wagase

     Down the highway to peak-strung Yamashiro[,] other husbands go mounted on their horses' backs, but my own husband trudges down that road on foot. Each time I see him[,] sobs come welling from my throat; when I think of it[,] my heart is sore within me. Take then the keepsake of my mother who fed me the milk of her breasts, this flawless-fine mirror she left me, and my dragonfly scarves--pack them up and take them away, go and buy a horse, my love.[2]

Derived terms

• 人妻 (ひとづま)児 (こ)ろ (hitozuma koro)

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. Edwin A. Cranston (1998) The Gem-Glistening Cup, illustrated edition, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 721