陽炎
Chinese
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
Pronunciation
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
Japanese
Etymology 1
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 陽 | 炎 |
| Grade: 3 | Grade: S |
| irregular | |
*/kaɡerʷo pʷi/ → /kaɡirohi/ → /kaɡiroi/
Originally a compound of かげる (kageru, “to shine, to shimmer”, obsolete, only found in compounds; cognate with 影 kage, “shadow”, and with the kaga element in 炫 kaga, kagaya, “shining, shimmering”; 輝く kagayaku, “to shine, to sparkle”) + 火 (hi, “fire, flame”).[1] In non-final position, /e/ raises to /i/ in Japanese.
Noun
陽炎 • (kagiroi) ←かぎろひ (kagirofi)?
- (archaic) heat shimmer, heat haze
- c. 759, Man'yōshū, (book 10, poem 1835):, text here:
- 今更 雪零目八方 蜻火之 燎留春部常 成西物乎
- 今さらに 雪降らめやも かぎろひの 燃ゆる春へと なりにしものを
- いまさらに ゆきふらめやも かぎろひの もゆるはるへと なりにしものを
- Ima sara ni / yuki furame ya mo / kagirohi no / moyuru haru he to / narinishi mono wo
- And now already, when snow shall not fall, it has become the springtime with its smouldering heat haze
- (archaic) the glow of dawn
- c. 759, Man'yōshū, (book 1, poem 48):, text here:
- 東 野炎 立所見而 反見為者 月西渡
- 東の 野にかぎろひの 立つ見えて かへり見すれば 月かたぶきぬ
- ひむがしの のにかぎろひの たつみえて かへりみすれば つきかたぶきぬ
- Himugashi no / no ni kagirohi no / tatsu miete / kaherimi sureba / tsuki katabukinu
- In the field of the east, the start of the dawn's glow can be seen, and looking back the other way, the moon has begun to set
Usage notes
In general use, this term has been replaced by the modern form kagerō below.
Used in poetry and formal writing as a 枕詞 (makura kotoba), a kind of epithet, to precede certain terms.
- 陽炎の春 (kagiroi no haru): “heat-hazy spring” → introduces the idea of springtime, from the way that fields often shimmer in the heat of a sunny spring day.
- 陽炎の心燃ゆ (kagiroi no kokoro-moyu): “heat-hazy heart-burning” → in reference to the heat of one's passion (note that this is not heartburn in the English term's sense of indigestion).
Etymology 2
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 陽 | 炎 |
| Grade: 3 | Grade: S |
| irregular | |
/kaɡiroi/ → /kaɡeroi/
Traditionally described as a shift in pronunciation from kagiroi above.[1] However, this might be the original form.
Usage notes
In general use, this term has been replaced by the modern form kagerō below.
Etymology 3
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 陽 | 炎 |
| Grade: 3 | Grade: S |
| irregular | |
/kaɡeroi/ → /kaɡerou/ → /kaɡeroː/
Shift in pronunciation from kageroi above, via vowel backing and raising of /fi/ > */fo/ > /fu/, remniscent of 火 (ho-, “fire”) and Eastern Old Japanese 火 (pu, “fire”).[1] This is the most common reading.
Starting from the Heian period, used in poetry to allude to something indistinct, or something that might not be there; compare use of the English term mirage.
Associated with the season of spring.
Pronunciation
Idioms
- 陽炎稲妻水の月 (kagerō inazuma mizu no tsuki): “heat haze, lightning, the moon [reflected] in water” → a metaphor for something unobtainable; compare pie in the sky
Usage notes
This kagerō form is the modern reading.
Used in writing as a 枕詞 (makura kotoba), a kind of epithet, to precede certain terms.
Etymology 4
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 陽 | 炎 |
| よう Grade: 3 |
えん Grade: S |
| on’yomi | |
/jauen/ → /jɔːen/ → /joːen/
From Middle Chinese compound Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value). Compare modern Mandarin 陽炎/阳炎 (yángyán, “sun glare”).
Usage notes
Less common than the kagerō reading above.