水無月

水無月

Japanese

Kanji in this term
水	無	月
み Grade: 1	な Grade: 4	つき > づき Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

• 六月

Etymology

From Old Japanese, a compound of 水 (mi, “water”) +‎ な (na, alternative form of possessive particle の (no)) +‎ 月 (tsuki, “month”).[1][2] The tsuki changes to zuki as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Originally referred to the month in which water had to be added to the rice paddies.[1][2]

The use of the kanji 無 (“not, none”) for the na portion is an example of phonetic ateji (当て字).[1][2]

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) みな​づき [mìnáꜜzùkì] (Nakadaka – [2])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [mʲina̠zɨᵝkʲi]

Noun

水無月 (hiragana みなづき, rōmaji minazuki)

1. (archaic) the sixth month of the lunar calendar
2. (poetic) the month of water: June

Derived terms

• 水 (み)無 (な)月 (づき)会 (え) (Minazukie)
• 水 (み)無 (な)月 (づき)祓 (ばらえ) (minazuki-barae)
• 青 (あお)水 (み)無 (な)月 (づき) (aominazuki)
• 水 (み)無 (な)月 (づき)の能 (のう) (Minazuki no Nō)

Coordinate terms

• (Japanese calendar months) 睦月 (むつき) (mutsuki), 如月 (きさらぎ) (kisaragi), 弥生 (やよい) (yayoi), 卯 (う)月 (づき) (uzuki), 皐 (さ)月 (つき) (satsuki), 水 (み)無 (な)月 (づき) (minazuki), 文 (ふみ)月 (づき) (fumizuki), 葉 (は)月 (づき) (hazuki), 長 (なが)月 (つき) (nagatsuki), 神 (かん)無 (な)月 (づき) (kannazuki), 霜 (しも)月 (つき) (shimotsuki), 師走 (しわす) (shiwasu) ^{(Category: ja:Japanese months)}

See also

• 六 (ろく)月 (がつ) (rokugatsu)

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
3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

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Old Japanese

Alterantive forms

• 六月

Etymology

Compound of 水 (mi₁, “water”) +‎ な (na, apophonic form of possessive particle の (no₂)) +‎ 月 (tuki₂, “month”).

Noun

水無月 (mi₁naduki₂) (kana みなづき)

1. the sixth month of the lunar calendar
   • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 10, poem 1995)

     六月之地副割而照日尓毛吾袖将乾哉於君不相四手

     mi₁naduki₂ no₂ tuti sape₂ sake₂te terupi₁ ni mo waga so₁de pi₂me₂ ya ki₁mi₁ ni apazusite

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Descendants

• Japanese: 水無月 (minazuki)