天花

Chinese

	day; sky; heaven	flower; blossom; to spend flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern
trad. (天花)	天	花
simp. ^#(天花)	天	花
Literally: “heaven flower”.

Etymology

Originally the Chinese translation of several Sanskrit and Pali words, including Sanskrit खपुष्प (khapuṣpa, “flower in the sky”), as well as several plant names, such as Sanskrit दिव्यपुष्प (divyapuṣpa, “oleander [heaven-flower]”) / Pali devapuppha, and Sanskrit शालपुष्प (śālapuṣpa, “confederate rose [house-flower]”).

The development from “heaven-flower” (or other interpretations of the combination) to “smallpox” is unknown. It may be due to the shape resemblance of smallpox pustules to the divine flowers in Buddhism. Compare Tibetan ལྷ་འབྲུམ (lha 'brum, “smallpox [deva-pustule]”), མེ་ཏོག (me tog, “flower; (dialectal) smallpox”), and Mongolian ᠰᠠᠯᠬᠢᠨ
ᠴᠡᠴᠡᠭ (salqin čečeg) / салхин цэцэг (salxin ceceg, “smallpox; chickenpox [wind-flower]”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tiānhuā
(Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄚ
Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ faa¹
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): thiên-fâ
(Meixian, Guangdong): tiên¹ fa¹
Min Dong (BUC): tiĕng-huă
Min Nan (POJ): thian-hoa / thian-hoe
Wu (Wiktionary): thi ho (T1)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tiānhuā
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄚ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tianhua
  - Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-hua¹
  - Yale: tyān-hwā
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianhua
  - Palladius: тяньхуа (tjanʹxua)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰjɛn⁵⁵ xwä⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tiānhuār
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄚㄦ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tianhuar
  - Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-huarh¹
  - Yale: tyān-hwār
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianhual
  - Palladius: тяньхуар (tjanʹxuar)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰjɛn⁵⁵ xwɑɻ⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: tin¹ faa¹
  - Yale: tīn fā
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ faa¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ fa¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ faː⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thiên-fâ
  - Hakka Romanization System: tien´ fa´
  - Hagfa Pinyim: tian¹ fa¹
  - Sinological IPA: /tʰi̯en²⁴⁻¹¹ fa²⁴/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: tiên¹ fa¹
  - Sinological IPA: /tʰiɛn⁴⁴ fa⁴⁴/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: tiĕng-huă
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰieŋ⁵⁵ ^(h-)ŋua⁵⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-hoa
  - Tâi-lô: thian-hua
  - Phofsit Daibuun: tienhoaf
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ hua⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² hua⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰiɛn³³ hua³³/
- (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-hoe
  - Tâi-lô: thian-hue
  - Phofsit Daibuun: tienhoef
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ hue⁴⁴/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: thi ho (T1)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi⁵⁵ ho²¹/

Middle Chinese: /tʰen hˠua/

Rime
Character	天	花
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	透 (6)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	先 (85)	麻 (99)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	IV	II
Fanqie	他前切	呼瓜切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tʰen/	/hˠua/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰen/	/hʷᵚa/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɛn/	/xua/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰɛn/	/hwaɨ/
Li Rong	/tʰen/	/xua/
Wang Li	/tʰien/	/xwa/
Bernard Karlgren	/tʰien/	/xwa/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tiān	huā
Expected Cantonese Reflex	tin¹	faa¹

Noun

天花

(Buddhism) flower of the sky; divine flower, stated in the Lotus Sutra as of four kinds, two white and two red
(literary, poetic) snowflake; snow
(pathology) smallpox; variola
Short for 天花板 (tiānhuābǎn, “ceiling”).

Synonyms

(flower of the sky): 天華／天华, 空華／空华
(snowflake): 雪花 (xuěhuā)
(smallpox): (TCM) 痘瘡／痘疮 (dòuchuāng)

Derived terms

天花板 (tiānhuābǎn)
天花枋
天花粉 (tiānhuāfěn)
亂墜天花／乱坠天花

口墜天花／口坠天花
天花亂墜／天花乱坠 (tiānhuāluànzhuì)
天花墜地／天花坠地

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (天花):

→ Japanese: 天花(てんか) (tenka)
→ Korean: 천화(天花) (cheonhwa)
→ Vietnamese: thiên hoa (天花)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
天	花
てん Grade: 1	か Grade: 1
on’yomi

Noun

天(てん)花(か) • (tenka)

snow
a flower that blossoms in the Buddhist heaven by their tale.
lotus-petal-shaped confetti scattering before the mortuary tablet.