変体仮名

変体仮名

See also: 變體假名 and 变体假名

Japanese

Signage for traditional restaurants are known to use hentaigana:* 生𛁛𛂦゙ = 生そば (nama-soba)* 𛂁𛀙゙井 = なが井 (nagai)

A page from Wakan sansai zue, typeset using hentaigana:—* をつと𛁩せい = をつとつせい (ottossei)* 𛀄しか = あしか (ashika)

Kanji in this term
変	体	仮	名
へん Grade: 4	たい Grade: 2	か > が Grade: 5	な Grade: 1
on’yomi	goon	irregular	kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
變體假名 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Compound of 変体 (hentai, “variant form”) +‎ 仮名 (kana, “the hiragana or katakana syllabaries; a syllabary character”). The kana changes to gana as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) へんたいがな [hèńtáígáná] (Heiban – [0])[1][2][3]
• (Tokyo) へんた​いがな [hèńtáꜜìgànà] (Nakadaka – [3])[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [hẽ̞nta̠iɡa̠na̠]

Noun

変(へん)体(たい)仮(が)名(な) • (hentaigana)  (kyūjitai 變體假名)

1. hentaigana: any of the hiragana made obsolete in Meiji-era reforms that enforced having one hiragana for each syllable

See also

• 万(まん)葉(よう)仮(が)名(な) (man'yōgana): Man'yō characters, the ancestors of modern kana as derived from cursive forms of kanji used phonetically in the Man'yōshū collection of poetry

References

1. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN