手締め

Japanese

Kanji in this term
手	締
て Grade: 1	し > じ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Etymology

Of 手(て) (te, “hand”) + 締(し)め (shime, “conclusion”), the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 締める (“to fasten, close”). The shime changes to jime as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [te̞ʑime̞]

Noun

手(て)締(じ)め • (tejime) 

1. ceremonial hand clapping

Usage notes

Stylized tejime clapping is sometimes used to signal the ending of a fortunate event, such as a celebration or a successful business negotiation. Common rhythmic patterns are ipponjime – consisting of three claps, a short pause, three claps, a pause, three more claps, another pause, and one final clap – or sanbonjime – three repetitions of the ipponjime pattern.

See also

• 一(いっ)本(ぽん)締(じ)め (ipponjime) clapping in a 3-3-3-1 pattern
• 三(さん)本(ぼん)締(じ)め (sanbonjime) clapping the ipponjime pattern three times in succession
• 手(て)打(う)ち (teuchi, “striking a bargain, making a deal”, literally “striking hands”)