女形

女形

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
女	形
おんな Grade: 1	かた > がた Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Compound of 女 (onna, “woman”) +‎ 形 (kata, “form”).[1][2] The kata changes to gata as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Alternative forms

• 女方

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) おんながた [òńnágátá] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• IPA^(key): [õ̞nːa̠ɡa̠ta̠]

Noun

女(おんな)形(がた) • (onnagata) ^{←をんながた (wonnagata)?}

1. male actor who plays female roles in kabuki theater: onnagata

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
女	形
Grade: 1	Grade: 2
irregular

Appears from the early Edo period, around the mid to late 1600s, originally in reference to doll figurines of courtesans made by Oyama Jirōsaburō (小山次郎三郎).[1][2]

Alternative forms

• 御山, お山, 女方

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) お​やま [óꜜyàmà] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
• (Tokyo) おや​ま [òyáꜜmà] (Nakadaka – [2])[2]
• IPA^(key): [o̞ja̠ma̠]

Noun

女形(おやま) • (oyama) ^{←をやま (woyama)?}

1. male actor who plays female roles in kabuki theater: onnagata
2. in puppetry, a female puppet
3. (slang, possibly archaic, chiefly Kansai) a high-end prostitute

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN