tanka

See also: tanke, tenke, Tanka, tankā, tänka, tænke, and тәңкә

English

Etymology 1

From Japanese 短歌 (tanka, “short song”), from Middle Chinese 短 (MC twanX) 歌 (MC ka) (compare Mandarin 短歌 (duǎngē) duǎngē).

Noun

tanka (plural tankas or tanka)

1. A form of Japanese verse in five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 morae.
   • 1996, Makoto Ueda, Modern Japanese Tanka: An Anthology, →ISBN:

     Like haiku, tanka is a short, classical verse form that has attracted considerable attention in this century.

   • 2007, Hiroaki Sato, Miyazawa Kenji: Selections, page 38:

     One tanka poet who directly influenced Kenji is Ishikawa takuboku, who lineated tanka—an extraordinary break with the tradition of writing tanka in one line.

   • 2016, Noriko Iwasaki, Peter Sells, Kimi Akita, The Grammar of Japanese Mimetics, page 121:

     The notion of rhyming in Japanese tanka poetry is applied differently from what we observe in the Western poetry tradition.

Translations

a Japanese verse

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 短歌 (zh) (duǎngē)

• Estonian: tanka (et)
• Finnish: tanka (fi)
• Japanese: 短歌 (ja) (tanka)
• Korean: 단카 (Danka)
• Russian: та́нка (ru) f (tánka)

Etymology 2

See thangka.

Noun

tanka (plural tankas)

1. Alternative form of thangka (“Tibetan religious artwork”)
   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 224:

     In the practice of yoga certain functions which were previously subconscious become open to consciousness; this opening of the subconscious is well pictured in certain Tibetan tankas, or in Western art, in the Temptation of St. Anthony paintings by Bosch and Grünewald.

   • 1981 January-April, News Tibet, volume 16, number 1, page 15:

     A powerful 17th to 18th century example of the endless cycle of rebirth is this primitively painted tanka called “The Wheel of Existence." It was displayed with alarming vividness at the entrance to most Tibetan temples.

   • 1988, Victor H. Mair, Painting and Performance: Chinese Picture Recitation and Its Indian Genesis, page 123:

     He has hung up his tanka (Tibetan thaṅka, a religious painting that is usually mounted on fabric) on the wall and is sitting down to the left of it.

   • 1997, Anne Maiden Brown, Edie Farwell, Dickey Nyerongsha, The Tibetan Art of Parenting: From Before Conception Through Early Childhood, page 8:

     Tashi is unable to establish himself yet as a tanka painter in Dharamsala, so he has taken a job at the Tibetan Library assisting other tanka painters.

Etymology 3

See Tanka.

Noun

tanka (plural tankas)

1. Alternative form of Tanka (“ethnic group of boat people living in China”)
   • 1831, The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australasia:

     And when foreigners go and come from Whampoa to Canton, tanka-boats and boats with families must not be employed.

   • 1835, The Chinese Repository, page 392:

     At every landing place behind the hongs, (i. e. in the front of the factories,) where barbarians reside, they must not allow the tanka boats to anchor.

   • 1845, Miscellaneous Remarks Upon the Government, History, Religions, Literature, Agriculture, Arts, Trades, Manners, and Customs of the Chinese:

     In Macao roads, where vessels usually stop before proceeding up to the Canton anchorage, the tanka boats are generally navigated by young girls, in competition with whom the old women meet with poor encouragement.

   • 1927, Herbert Ernest Gregory, Report of the director for 1926, page 6:

     Speaking of an interesting group of people near Canton, he says : Both the Tanka (boat people) and Hakka (another ethnic group, distinct from the Cantonese, living on land) have distinctive dialects and differ in phvsique from The Cantonese.

2. A kind of boat used in Guangdong, about 25 feet long and often rowed by Tanka women; junk.
   • 1837, Edmund Roberts, Embassy to the eastern courts of CochinChina, Siam and Muscat:

     Immediately on our nearing the harbour, a race took place among the amphibious damsels that inhabit the numerous sampans, tanka or egg-boats, which always lie within a short distance of the shore.

   • 1866, William Ainsworth, All Around the World:

     The tanka is a small boat, almost as wide as long, and differing therein much from the sharp and narrow canoes of the Malays. The crew generally consists of an elderly woman, who sits or stands at the stern, rotating with a vigorous and experienced arm the long oar which is the great propeller of all boats in the Celestial Empire.

   • 1967, Stan Hugill, Sailortown, page 56:

     These craft, the tanka, were the homes of thousands of true seamen — people who rarely came ashore ;

Etymology 4

Ultimately from Sanskrit टङ्क (ṭaṅka, “chisel; tanka”).

Noun

tanka (plural tankas)

1. (historical) A coin and unit of currency of varying value, formerly used in parts of India and Central Asia.
   • 1994, Stephen Frederic Dale, Indian Merchants and Eurasian Trade, 1600-1750, page 29:

     In Uzbek Turan Shah Rukh's tanka remained the standard silver coin and weighed an average of slightly more than 5 g throughout the sixteenth century.

   • 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 42:

     The last of the gifts was fifteen horses with velvet and jewelled trappings and one hundred thousand tankas in cash.

   • 2011, Najaf Haider, edited by Irfan Habib, Economic History of Medieval India, 1200-1500, Vol. VIII part 1, p. 152:

     A major shift in the usage of silver and billion coinage came about in the second quarter of the fourteenth century when Muḥammad Tughluq, after striking the ṭanka of 169.8 grains in the beginning, replaced it with a coin of lower weight (144 grains) called ‘adli, which was then treated as the standard ṭanka.

Alternative forms

• taka, tucka

Anagrams

• kanat

Finnish

Etymology

From Japanese 短歌 (tanka).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑŋkɑ/, [ˈt̪ɑ̝ŋkɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑŋkɑ
• Syllabification^(key): tan‧ka

Noun

tanka

1. tanka (Japanese verse)

Declension

Inflection of tanka (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
nominative		tanka	tankat
genitive		tankan	tankojen
partitive		tankaa	tankoja
illative		tankaan	tankoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		tanka	tankat
accusative	nom.	tanka	tankat
	gen.	tankan
genitive		tankan	tankojen tankainrare
partitive		tankaa	tankoja
inessive		tankassa	tankoissa
elative		tankasta	tankoista
illative		tankaan	tankoihin
adessive		tankalla	tankoilla
ablative		tankalta	tankoilta
allative		tankalle	tankoille
essive		tankana	tankoina
translative		tankaksi	tankoiksi
abessive		tankatta	tankoitta
instructive		—	tankoin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of tanka (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tankani tankani accusative nom. tankani tankani gen. tankani genitive tankani tankojeni tankainirare partitive tankaani tankojani inessive tankassani tankoissani elative tankastani tankoistani illative tankaani tankoihini adessive tankallani tankoillani ablative tankaltani tankoiltani allative tankalleni tankoilleni essive tankanani tankoinani translative tankakseni tankoikseni abessive tankattani tankoittani instructive — — comitative — tankoineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tankasi tankasi accusative nom. tankasi tankasi gen. tankasi genitive tankasi tankojesi tankaisirare partitive tankaasi tankojasi inessive tankassasi tankoissasi elative tankastasi tankoistasi illative tankaasi tankoihisi adessive tankallasi tankoillasi ablative tankaltasi tankoiltasi allative tankallesi tankoillesi essive tankanasi tankoinasi translative tankaksesi tankoiksesi abessive tankattasi tankoittasi instructive — — comitative — tankoinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tankamme tankamme accusative nom. tankamme tankamme gen. tankamme genitive tankamme tankojemme tankaimmerare partitive tankaamme tankojamme inessive tankassamme tankoissamme elative tankastamme tankoistamme illative tankaamme tankoihimme adessive tankallamme tankoillamme ablative tankaltamme tankoiltamme allative tankallemme tankoillemme essive tankanamme tankoinamme translative tankaksemme tankoiksemme abessive tankattamme tankoittamme instructive — — comitative — tankoinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tankanne tankanne accusative nom. tankanne tankanne gen. tankanne genitive tankanne tankojenne tankainnerare partitive tankaanne tankojanne inessive tankassanne tankoissanne elative tankastanne tankoistanne illative tankaanne tankoihinne adessive tankallanne tankoillanne ablative tankaltanne tankoiltanne allative tankallenne tankoillenne essive tankananne tankoinanne translative tankaksenne tankoiksenne abessive tankattanne tankoittanne instructive — — comitative — tankoinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative tankansa tankansa accusative nom. tankansa tankansa gen. tankansa genitive tankansa tankojensa tankainsarare partitive tankaansa tankojaan tankojansa inessive tankassaan tankassansa tankoissaan tankoissansa elative tankastaan tankastansa tankoistaan tankoistansa illative tankaansa tankoihinsa adessive tankallaan tankallansa tankoillaan tankoillansa ablative tankaltaan tankaltansa tankoiltaan tankoiltansa allative tankalleen tankallensa tankoilleen tankoillensa essive tankanaan tankanansa tankoinaan tankoinansa translative tankakseen tankaksensa tankoikseen tankoiksensa abessive tankattaan tankattansa tankoittaan tankoittansa instructive — — comitative — tankoineen tankoinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• tankaruno

 

Further reading

• “tanka”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

Anagrams

• ankat, kanat, kanta, katan, takan

Japanese

Romanization

tanka

1. Rōmaji transcription of たんか

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• tanket

Verb

tanka

1. inflection of tanke:
   1. simple past
   2. past participle

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• tanke

Etymology

From English tank.

Verb

tanka (present tense tankar, past tense tanka, past participle tanka, passive infinitive tankast, present participle tankande, imperative tanka/tank)

1. tank (put fuel into a tank)

References

• “tanka” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɐ̃.kɐ/

Verb

tanka

1. inflection of tankar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Serbo-Croatian

Adjective

tanka

1. inflection of tanak:
   1. feminine nominative/vocative singular
   2. indefinite masculine/neuter genitive singular
   3. indefinite animate masculine accusative singular
   4. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Swedish

Noun

tanka c

1. (archaic) thought

   ... på Månan, och har gifvit anledning till den oriktiga tankan att där finnas eldsprutande berg.

   ... on the Moon, and has given occasion to the incorrect thought that it has fire-spouting mountains.

Declension

Declension of tanka
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	tanka	tankan	—	—
Genitive	tankas	tankans	—	—

Verb

tanka (present tankar, preterite tankade, supine tankat, imperative tanka)

1. to refuel; to fill a tank with fuel
2. (slang) to drink large quantities of alcohol; to booze
3. (computing, slang) to download large quantities of data

Conjugation

Conjugation of tanka (weak)

	Active		Passive
Infinitive	tanka		tankas
Supine	tankat		tankats
Imperative	tanka		—
Imper. plural1	tanken		—
	Present	Past	Present	Past
Indicative	tankar	tankade	tankas	tankades
Ind. plural1	tanka	tankade	tankas	tankades
Subjunctive2	tanke	tankade	tankes	tankades
	Participles
Present participle	tankande
Past participle	tankad
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Related terms

• tanka ner
• tanka upp
• tankning

Anagrams

• kanat, kanta