変体仮名

See also: 變體假名 and 变体假名

Japanese

Signage for traditional restaurants are known to use hentaigana: * 生𛁛𛂦゙ = 生そば (nama-soba) * 𛂁𛀙゙井 = なが井 (nagai)

A page from Wakan sansai zue, typeset using hentaigana:— * をつと𛁩せい = をつとつせい (ottossei) * 𛀄しか = あしか (ashika)

Kanji in this term
変	体	仮	名
へん Grade: 4	たい Grade: 2	か > が Grade: 5	な Grade: 1
on’yomi	goon	irregular	kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
變體假名 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Compound of 変体 (hentai, “variant form”) +‎ 仮名 (kana, “the hiragana or katakana syllabaries; a syllabary character”). The kana changes to gana as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) へんたいがな [hèńtáígáná] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) へんた​いがな [hèńtáꜜìgànà] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [hẽ̞nta̠iɡa̠na̠]

Noun

変(へん)体(たい)仮(が)名(な) • (hentaigana) 

1. hentaigana: any of the hiragana made obsolete in Meiji-era reforms that enforced having one hiragana for each syllable

See also

• 万(まん)葉(よう)仮(が)名(な) (man'yōgana): Man'yō characters, the ancestors of modern kana as derived from cursive forms of kanji used phonetically in the Man'yōshū collection of poetry