天鵞

See also: 天鵝

Japanese

Kanji in this term
天 鵞
てん
Grade: 1 		が
Hyōgai
on'yomi

Etymology

From Middle Chinese compound 天鵞 / 天鹅 (then nga, “swan”, literally “heavenly + goose”). The second character 鵞 / 鹅 (é) has apparently been superseded in modern Chinese by the alternative form 鵝 / 鹅 (é). Compare modern Cantonese 天鵝 / 天鹅 (tin1 ngo4).

This word appears in the 1734 work 本朝世事綺談 (Honchō Seji Kidan, “Embellished Tales of Everyday Japan”; also listed as 本朝世事談綺, with the last two characters swapped), in a description of the kanji spelling of 天鵞絨 (tengajū ,alternative reading birōdo, “velvet”, archaic, largely replaced by the borrowed term ビロード (birōdo)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [tẽ̞ŋɡa̠]

Noun

天(てん)鵞(が) • (tenga) 

  1. (rare, obsolete) a swan
    Synonym: 白鳥 (hakuchō)

Usage notes

This term has been replaced in modern Japanese by 白鳥 (hakuchō, “swan”, literally “white bird”).

Derived terms

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