不知火

Japanese
Kanji in this term
不 知 火
Grade: 4 し(ら)
Grade: 2		 ひ > い
Grade: 1
Irregular kun’yomi

Etymology

/siranupi/ → /ɕiranufi/ → /ɕiranuwi/ → /ɕiranui/

From 知らぬ (shiranu, “unknown”, archaic negative form of 知る (shiru, “to know”)) +‎ 火 (hi, “fire”). The kanji are jukujikun (熟字訓), literally meaning “unknown fire”, incorporating the 不知 kanbun or Chinese-derived spelling for the 知らぬ (shiranu, “not know, unknown”) portion.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

不知火 (hiragana しらぬい, rōmaji shiranui, historical hiragana しらぬひ)

  1. a marine will o' the wisp, more specifically one seen off the coasts of Kyūshū in the Yatsushiro Sea or Ariake Sea
    Synonyms: 陰火 (inka), 鬼火 (onibi), 狐火 (kitsunebi), 野火 (yaka), 幽霊火 (yūreibi)

Derived terms
  • 不知 (しらぬ)火 (い)海 (かい) (Shiranui Kai): alternate name for 八代海 (Yatsushiro Kai, “Yatsushiro Sea”)

See also

Proper noun

不知火 (hiragana しらぬい, rōmaji Shiranui, historical hiragana しらぬひ)

  1. a place name
  2. a surname

Derived terms
  • 不知 (しらぬ)火 (い)型 (がた) (Shiranui-gata): one of the kata (routines) performed by a yokozuna (highest sumo rank) when entering the dohyō (sumo ring)

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  4. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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