紫陽花

Chinese

		purple; violet; imperial purple; violet; imperial; palace	positive (electric.); sun; male	flower; blossom; to spend flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern
trad. (紫陽花)		紫	陽	花
simp. (紫阳花)		紫	阳	花

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zǐyánghuā

  (Zhuyin): ㄗˇ ㄧㄤˊ ㄏㄨㄚ

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chí-iông-hoe

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zǐyánghuā
    • Zhuyin: ㄗˇ ㄧㄤˊ ㄏㄨㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zǐhyánghua
    • Wade–Giles: tzŭ³-yang²-hua¹
    • Yale: dž-yáng-hwā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzyyyanghua
    • Palladius: цзыянхуа (czyjanxua)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ jɑŋ³⁵ xu̯ä⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chí-iông-hoe
    • Tâi-lô: tsí-iông-hue
    • Phofsit Daibuun: cyionghoef
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡si⁵³⁻⁴⁴ iɔŋ²⁴⁻²² hue⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡si⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ iɔŋ²⁴⁻²² hue³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡si⁵³⁻⁴⁴ iɔŋ¹³⁻²² hue⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡si⁵³⁻⁴⁴ iɔŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ hue⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡si⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ iɔŋ²³⁻³³ hue⁴⁴/

Noun

紫陽花

1. Hydrangea macrophylla

Japanese

Etymology 1

紫陽花 (ajisai): a hydrangea bush in bloom, showing a characteristic variation in color.

Kanji in this term
紫	陽	花
あじさい
Grade: S	Grade: 3	Grade: 1
jukujikun

/adisawi/ → /ad͡ʑisai/

From Old Japanese. Recorded in the Man'yōshū of c. 759 CE with the phonetic man'yōgana spellings 味狭藍 (adisawi) and 安治佐為 (adisawi), and in the Wamyō Ruijushō dictionary of 938 CE with the phonetic spelling 阿豆佐為 (adusawi, atusawi).

Ultimate derivation unknown. Some sources suggest that this comes from 集真藍 (adi sa-awi, literally “gathering + pure indigo”). However, this is problematic phonetically, as there is no evidence for any classical or ancient verb 集 (adu, modern azu) that would conjugate to adi (modern aji). The closest with this meaning would be 厚 (atsu), stem of the adjective 厚い (atsui, “thick; packed together”) and root of the classical verb 集む (atsumu, “to gather together”), modern 集める (atsumeru, transitive) and 集まる (atsumaru, intransitive), and this atu (modern atsu) never showed signs of voicing to adu (modern azu), let alone shifting the final vowel from -u to -i. This theory is also problematic semantically, as the hydrangea's color range never includes colors as dark as pure indigo.

Alternatively, the initial adi may be from 味 (ancient adi, modern aji; literally “flavor”), also used as an adjective referring to something good, preferable, or favorable. The sawi may be from -s- as an ancient possessive infix (see also 春雨 (harusame, “spring rain”), 真っ青 (massao, “pure blue, really blue”), 荒稲 (arashine, “unhulled rice”)) and awi from 藍 (ancient awi, modern ai; “indigo”, also used in some contexts to simply mean “blue”).

The spelling is borrowed from Chinese 紫陽花／紫阳花 (zǐyánghuā), literally meaning “purple sun flower”, and is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あじさい [àjísáí] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) あじ​さい [àjíꜜsàì] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [a̠ʑisa̠i]

Noun

紫陽花(あじさい) or 紫陽花(アジサイ) • (ajisai) ^{←あぢさゐ (adisawi) or アヂサヰ (adisawi)?}

1. hydrangea, especially the bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)
   • 1310, Fuboku Wakashō (book 9, poem 3355)

     下野(しもつけ)や籬(まがき)にまじる紫陽花(あぢさゐ)の四(よ)葩(ひら)に見(み)れば八重(やへ)にこそ咲(さ)け

     shimotsuke ya magaki ni majiru ajisai no yohira ni mireba yae ni koso sake

     The meadowsweet, when it looks on the four blooms of hydrangea which mingle with the rough-woven fence, it blooms in eightfold

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as アジサイ.

Synonyms

• 七(シチ)変(ヘン)化(ゲ) (shichihenge), 七(ナナ)変(ヘン)化(ゲ) (nanahenge)
• 四(ヨ)葩(ヒラ) (yohira)

Derived terms

• アジサイ科(か) (ajisai-ka, “Hydrangeaceae”)
• 額(ガク)紫陽花(アジサイ) (gaku ajisai, “lacecap hydrangea”)
• 沢(サワ)紫陽花(アジサイ) (sawa ajisai), 山(ヤマ)紫陽花(アジサイ) (yama ajisai, “tea of heaven”)
• 西洋(セイヨウ)紫陽花(アジサイ) (seiyō ajisai, “Western hydrangea”)

Proper noun

紫陽花(あじさい) • (Ajisai) 

1. a female given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
紫	陽	花
し Grade: S	よう Grade: 3	か Grade: 1
on’yomi		kan’on

/sijaukwa/ → /ɕijɔːkwa/ → /ɕijoːka/

The reading based on the 音読み (on'yomi) of the kanji spelling, itself borrowed from Chinese 紫陽花／紫阳花 (zǐyánghuā).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しよ​ーか [shìyóꜜòkà] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ɕijo̞ːka̠]

Noun

紫(し)陽(よう)花(か) or 紫陽花(シヨウカ) • (shiyōka) ^{←しやうくわ (syaukwa) or シヤウクワ (syaukwa)?}

1. hydrangea

Etymology 3

Other various nanori readings.

Proper noun

紫陽花(しょうこ) or 紫陽花(しよか) or 紫陽花(はるか) • (Shōko or Shiyoka or Haruka) 

1. a female given name

Further reading

• Etymology entry for 紫陽花 (ajisai) on Gogen-Yurai Jiten (Etymology and Origin Dictionary; in Japanese): http://gogen-allguide.com/a/ajisai.html
• Etymology entry for 紫陽花 (ajisai) on Yurai-Gogen Jiten (Origin and Etymology Dictionary; in Japanese): http://yain.jp/i/紫陽花