高天原
Chinese
high; tall | day; sky; heaven | former; original; primary former; original; primary; raw; level; cause; source | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
simp. and trad. (高天原) | 高 | 天 | 原 |
Etymology
Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 高天原 (literally “Plain of High Heaven”).
Pronunciation
Proper noun
高天原
- (Japanese mythology, Shinto) Takamagahara
Japanese
Kanji in this term | ||
---|---|---|
高 | 天 | 原 |
たか Grade: 2 | あま > ま Grade: 1 | はら Grade: 2 |
kun’yomi |
Etymology 1
From Old Japanese, first attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).
Compound of 高 (taka, “high”) + 天の原 (ama no hara, “plains of heaven”), with the final -a of taka dropped due to haplology.
Pronunciation
- Kun’yomi
- (Tokyo) たかまのはら [tàkámá nóꜜ hàrà] (Nakadaka – [4])[1]
- IPA(key): [ta̠ka̠ma̠ no̞ ha̠ɾa̠]
Noun
高天原 • (takama no hara)
- the sky, heavens
- (Japanese mythology, Shinto) Takamagahara (the realm of the gods, as opposed to the realm of mortals and the realm of the dead)
Etymology 2
From Old Japanese.
Compound of 高 (taka, “high”) + 天 (ama, “heaven”) + が (ga, archaic attributive or possessive particle) + 原 (hara, “plain”), with the final -a of taka dropped due haplology.
Because there is no additional kanji (such as 之 or 乃) attested in the compound to demonstrate a particle, both が (ga) and の (no) are interchangeable.
Pronunciation
- Kun’yomi
- (Tokyo) たかまがはら [tàkámá gáꜜ hàrà] (Nakadaka – [4])[1]
- IPA(key): [ta̠ka̠ma̠ ɡa̠ ha̠ɾa̠]
Noun
高天原 • (takama ga hara)
- Same as たかまのはら (takama no hara) above
See also
- 葦原の中つ国 (ashihara no nakatsukuni)
- 根の堅洲国 (ne no katasu kuni)
- 黄泉 (yomi)
- 高天 (kōten)
References
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN