紫陽花

紫陽花

1. Hydrangea macrophylla

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

/adisawi/ → /ad͡ʑisai/

From Old Japanese. Recorded in the Man'yōshū of c. 759 CE with the phonetic man'yōgana spellings 味狭藍 (adisawi)[1] and 安治佐為 (adisawi), [2], and in the Wamyō Ruijushō dictionary of 938 CE with the phonetic spelling 阿豆佐為 (adusawi, atusawi).

Ultimate derivation unknown. Some sources[3] 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, literally meaning “purple sun flower”, and is an example of jukujikun.

• (Irregular reading)
  • (Tokyo) あじさい [àjísáí] (Heiban – [0])[4]
  • (Tokyo) あじ​さい [àjíꜜsàì] (Nakadaka – [2])[4]
  • IPA^(key): [a̠ʑisa̠i]

紫陽花 (hiragana あじさい, katakana アジサイ, rōmaji ajisai, historical hiragana あぢさゐ, historical katakana アヂサヰ)

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 (や)重 (へ)にこそ咲 (さ)け

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

     (please add an English translation of this example)

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

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

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

紫陽花 (hiragana あじさい, rōmaji Ajisai)

1. A female given name

/sijaukwa/ → /ɕijɔːkwa/ → /ɕijoːka/

The reading based on the on'yomi of the kanji spelling, itself borrowed from Chinese 紫陽花.

• On’yomi: Kan’on
  • (Tokyo) しよ​ーか [shìyóꜜòkà] (Nakadaka – [2])[4]
  • IPA^(key): [ɕijo̞ːka̠]

紫陽花 (hiragana しようか, katakana シヨウカ, rōmaji shiyōka, historical hiragana しやうくわ, historical katakana シヤウクワ)

1. hydrangea

Other various nanori readings.

紫陽花 (hiragana しょうこ, rōmaji Shōko)

1. A female given name

紫陽花 (hiragana しよか, rōmaji Shiyoka)

1. A female given name

紫陽花 (hiragana はるか, rōmaji Haruka)

1. A female given name

• 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