Chinese edit

day; sky; heaven dog
simp. and trad.
(天狗)
 
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Pronunciation edit


Noun edit

天狗

  1. (Chinese mythology) tiangou
  2. (Japanese mythology, Shinto, folklore) tengu

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

Sino-Xenic (天狗):

Japanese edit

Kanji in this term
てん
Grade: 1
く > ぐ
Hyōgaiji
on’yomi
 
天狗 (tengu): a large tengu mask.

Etymology edit

From Middle Chinese 天狗 (MC then kuwX, “heaven + dog”). First appears in the Nihon Shoki (720 CE).

The Chinese version of tengu (Tiangou) was originally more of a dog-like spirit or falling star. As the term and idea were imported into Japanese, the character became associated with 修験道 (Shugendō, a kind of syncretism of Buddhist and native Japanese elements), and the Japanese tengu changed to resemble either a long-nosed 山伏 (yamabushi, mountain monk, a practitioner of Shugendō) with bright-red skin, or a crow.[1]

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

(てん)() (tengu

  1. (Japanese mythology, Shinto, folklore) a tengu, a mythical Japanese creature, typically birdlike and having a long nose
    • (さま)(ざま)なことを()っている(てん)()(じん)(つう)(りき)使(つか)えるという。
      Samazama na koto o shitte iru tengu. Jintsūriki ga tsukaeru to iu.
      An omniscient tengu. They say it uses divine power.
  2. (figurative) a yamabushi
  3. (Noh) a tengu mask
  4. (historical) the Christian devil, Satan
  5. (figurative, from the tengu's long nose) pridefulness; someone who is very prideful, boastful, or full of oneself (compare English look down one's nose)

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
  4. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN