神棚

神棚

Japanese

神棚 (kamidana): a typical household kamidana.

Kanji in this term
神	棚
かみ Grade: 3	たな > だな Grade: S
kun’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 神 (kami, “god, deity, spirit”) +‎ 棚 (tana, “shelf”).[1][2]

The tana changes to dana as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) かみだな [kàmídáná] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [ka̠mʲida̠na̠]

Noun

神棚 (hiragana かみだな, rōmaji kamidana)

1. (Shinto) a household Shinto altar, consisting primarily of a shelf where the household may place any charms or other shrine items

Coordinate terms

• 霊 (たま)屋 (や) (tamaya, “shrine dedicated to a specific individual”)

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