天花

Chinese

	day; sky; heaven	flower; blossom; to spend flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern
trad. (天花)	天	花
simp. ^#(天花)	天	花
Literally: “heaven flower”.

Etymology

Originally the Chinese translation of several Sanskrit and Pali words, including Sanskrit खपुष्प (khapuṣpa, “flower in the sky”), as well as several plant names, such as Sanskrit दिव्यपुष्प (divyapuṣpa, “oleander [heaven-flower]”) / Pali devapuppha, and Sanskrit शालपुष्प (śālapuṣpa, “confederate rose [house-flower]”).

The development from “heaven-flower” (or other interpretations of the combination) to “smallpox” is unknown. It may be due to the shape resemblance of smallpox pustules to the divine flowers in Buddhism. Compare Tibetan ལྷ་འབྲུམ (lha 'brum, “smallpox [deva-pustule]”), མེ་ཏོག (me tog, “flower; (dialectal) smallpox”), and Mongolian ᠰᠠᠯᠬᠢᠨ
ᠴᠡᠴᠡᠭ (salkin čečeg) / салхин цэцэг (salxin ceceg, “smallpox; chickenpox [wind-flower]”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tiānhuā

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄚ
Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ faa¹
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): thiên-fâ

(Meixian, Guangdong): tiên¹ fa¹
Eastern Min (BUC): tiĕng-huă
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): thian-hoa / thian-hoe

(Teochew, Peng'im): tiang¹ huê¹
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹thi-ho

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tiānhuā
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄚ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tianhua
  - Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-hua¹
  - Yale: tyān-hwā
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianhua
  - Palladius: тяньхуа (tjanʹxua)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ xu̯ä⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tiānhuār
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄚㄦ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tianhuar
  - Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-hua¹-ʼrh
  - Yale: tyān-hwār
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianhual
  - Palladius: тяньхуар (tjanʹxuar)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ xu̯ɑɻ⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: tin¹ faa¹
  - Yale: tīn fā
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ faa¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ fa¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ faː⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thiên-fâ
  - Hakka Romanization System: tien^ˊ fa^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: tian¹ fa¹
  - Sinological IPA: /tʰi̯en²⁴⁻¹¹ fa²⁴/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: tiên¹ fa¹
  - Sinological IPA: /tʰiɛn⁴⁴ fa⁴⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: tiĕng-huă
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰieŋ⁵⁵ ^(h-)ŋua⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-hoa
  - Tâi-lô: thian-hua
  - Phofsit Daibuun: tienhoaf
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ hua⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² hua⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰiɛn³³ hua³³/
- (Hokkien: Magong, variant in Taiwan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-hoe
  - Tâi-lô: thian-hue
  - Phofsit Daibuun: tienhoef
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ hue⁴⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: tiang¹ huê¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: thiang hue
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiaŋ³³⁻²³ hue³³/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹thi-ho
  - MiniDict: thi^平 ho
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹thi-ho
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tʰi⁵⁵ ho²¹/

Middle Chinese: then xwae

Rime
Character	天	花
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	透 (6)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	先 (85)	麻 (99)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	IV	II
Fanqie	他前切	呼瓜切
Baxter	then	xwae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tʰen/	/hˠua/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰen/	/hʷᵚa/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɛn/	/xua/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰɛn/	/hwaɨ/
Li Rong	/tʰen/	/xua/
Wang Li	/tʰien/	/xwa/
Bernhard Karlgren	/tʰien/	/xwa/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tiān	huā
Expected Cantonese Reflex	tin¹	faa¹

Noun

天花

(Buddhism) flower of the sky; divine flower, stated in the Lotus Sutra as of four kinds, two white and two red
(literary, poetic) snowflake; snow
(pathology) smallpox; variola
short for 天花板 (tiānhuābǎn, “ceiling”)

Synonyms

(flower of the sky): 天華／天华, 空華／空华
(snowflake): 雪花 (xuěhuā)
(smallpox): 天然痘 (tiānrándòu); (TCM) 痘瘡／痘疮 (dòuchuāng)

Dialectal synonyms of 天花板 (“ceiling”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		天花板
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	天花板, 頂棚
	Taiwan	天花板
	Chengde	頂棚
	Chifeng	天花板, 頂棚
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	頂棚
	Heihe	天花板, 天棚
	Qiqihar	天花板, 天棚
	Harbin	天花板, 天棚
	Jiamusi	天花板, 天棚
	Baicheng	天花板
	Changchun	天花板, 天棚
	Tonghua	頂棚, 房笆
	Shenyang	天花板, 天棚
	Jinzhou	天花板, 天棚
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	仰護頂子
	Tangshan	天花板, 頂棚
	Cangzhou	頂棚
	Baoding	天花板, 頂間
	Shijiazhuang	頂棚
	Lijin	虛棚
	Jinan	天花板, 頂棚
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Dalian	天棚
	Dandong	天棚
	Yantai	虛棚
	Yantai (Muping)	天棚, 仰棚
	Qingdao	仰棚, 頂棚
	Zhucheng	浮棚
Central Plains Mandarin	Lingbao	頂棚
	Jining	頂棚, 仰次
	Linfen	仰塵, 棚
	Shangqiu	天花板, 頂棚
	Yuanyang	頂棚
	Zhengzhou	頂棚
	Xinyang	天花板, 頂棚
	Baihe	天花板, 頂棚
	Xi'an	天花板, 頂棚, 仰塵
	Baoji	頂棚, 仰塵
	Tianshui	天花板, 仰塵
	Xining	仰塵, 頂棚, 天花板
	Xuzhou	天花板, 頂棚, 仰視
	Fuyang	天花板, 頂棚
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	仰塵, 頂棚
	Lanzhou	頂棚
	Dunhuang	天花板, 頂棚
	Hami	天花板, 頂棚
	Ürümqi	仰塵, 天花板, 頂棚
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	天花板, 天花板兒, 頂棚
	Nanchong	天花板, 頂棚
	Dazhou	天花板, 望板
	Hanyuan	天花板
	Xichang	天花板, 頂棚
	Zigong	頂棚
	Chongqing	天花板, 望板兒
	Wuhan	天花板, 頂棚
	Yichang	天花板, 頂棚
	Xiangyang	天花板
	Tianmen	天花板, 頂棚
	Guiyang	天花板, 頂棚
	Zunyi	天花板, 頂棚
	Bijie	望板
	Liping	天花板
	Zhaotong	頂棚
	Dali	頂棚
	Kunming	天花板, 頂棚
	Mengzi	頂棚
	Guilin	天花板
	Liuzhou	天花板, 頂棚
	Jishou	天花板
	Changde	天花板
	Hanzhong	天花板, 頂棚
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	天花板
	Yangzhou	天花板, 頂棚
	Lianyungang	天花板, 頂棚, 粱承子, 覆棚
	Lianshui	白棚
	Nantong	天花板
	Anqing	天花板, 頂棚
	Wuhu	天花板
	Hefei	天花板, 頂棚
	Hong'an	天花板, 頂棚, 灰棚
Cantonese	Hong Kong	天花板, 天花
Cantonese	Dongguan	浪層, 天花板
Gan	Nanchang	天花板
	Lichuan	天花板
	Pingxiang	天花板
Hakka	Meixian	天花板
Hakka	Yudu	天花板, 倒板, 天棚
Huizhou	Jixi	天花板
Huizhou	Shexian	天花板
Jin	Taiyuan	仰塵, 頂棚, 天花板 cement
	Yangyuan	天花板, 頂棚
	Datong	仰塵
	Xinzhou	幔子, 仰塵
	Lüliang (Lishi)	天花帽板, 帽子
	Changzhi	天花板, 仰塵
	Linhe	仰塵, 頂棚
	Jining	天花板
	Hohhot	頂棚
	Erenhot	仰塵, 頂棚
	Pingshan	頂, 仰紙
	Zhangjiakou	頂棚
	Handan	天花板, 頂棚
	Linzhou	天花板, 仰塵
	Suide	頂棚, 仰塵
Northern Min	Jian'ou	天花板
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	天花板
Southern Min	Xiamen	天羅板, 天篷
	Quanzhou	天篷
	Jinjiang	天烏板
	Taipei	天篷
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	天花板, 天篷
	Kaohsiung	天篷, 天遮
	Yilan	天篷, 天遮
	Taichung	天篷
	Tainan	天篷
	Hsinchu	天篷
	Kinmen	天花板
	Penghu (Magong)	天遮
	Penang (Hokkien)	天花板
	Singapore (Hokkien)	倒吊枋
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	天花板
Wu	Shanghai	天花板
	Shanghai (Chongming)	天面
	Suzhou	天花板
	Danyang	天花板
	Hangzhou	天花板
	Ningbo	天花板
	Wenzhou	頂塵, 倒吸
	Jinhua	天花板
Xiang	Changsha	天花板
Xiang	Loudi	天花板

Derived terms

亂墜天花 / 乱坠天花
口墜天花 / 口坠天花
天花亂墜 / 天花乱坠 (tiānhuāluànzhuì)
天花墜地 / 天花坠地
天花板 (tiānhuābǎn)
天花枋
天花粉 (tiānhuāfěn)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (天花):

→ Japanese: 天花(てんか) (tenka)
→ Korean: 천화(天花) (cheonhwa)
→ Vietnamese: thiên hoa (天花)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
天	花
てん Grade: 1	か Grade: 1
on'yomi

Noun

天(てん)花(か) • (tenka)

snow
a flower that blossoms in the Buddhist heaven by their tale.
lotus-petal-shaped confetti scattering before the mortuary tablet.