女形
Japanese
Etymology 1
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 女 | 形 |
| おんな Grade: 1 |
かた > がた Grade: 2 |
| kun'yomi | |
| Alternative spelling |
|---|
| 女方 |
Compound of 女 (onna, “woman”) + 形 (kata, “form”).[1][2] The kata changes to gata as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
Pronunciation
Noun
女形 • (onnagata) ←をんながた (wonnagata)?
Etymology 2
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 女 | 形 |
| Grade: 1 | Grade: 2 |
| irregular | |
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 女方 お山 御山 |
Appears from the early Edo period, around the mid to late 1600s, originally in reference to doll figurines of courtesans made by Oyama Jirōsaburō (小山次郎三郎).[1][2]
Pronunciation
- (Tokyo) おやま [óꜜyàmà] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
- (Tokyo) おやま [òyáꜜmà] (Nakadaka – [2])[2]
- IPA(key): [o̞ja̠ma̠]
Noun
- male actor who plays female roles in kabuki theater: onnagata
- in puppetry, a female puppet
- (slang, possibly archaic, chiefly Kansai) a high-end prostitute