津波

Japanese

Kanji in this term
津	波
つ Grade: S	なみ Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
津浪海嘯海嘨 (extended shinjitai)

Etymology

Compound of 津 (tsu, “cove, inlet, outlet”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).^[1]^[2]

Attested since at least the 甲陽軍鑑 (Kōyō Gunkan) of the early 1600s.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) つなみ [tsùnámí] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [t͡sɨna̠mʲi]

Noun

津(つ)波(なみ) • (tsunami)

[from early 1600s] (oceanography) a tsunami; a tidal wave^[5]
Synonym: 地震津波 (jishin tsunami, literally “earthquake tsunami”)
- 1999 December 1, “海竜神(リバイアサン) [Leviathan]”, in BOOSTER 6, Konami:
  
  海(うみ)の主(ぬし)と呼(よ)ばれる海(うみ)のドラゴン。津(つ)波(なみ)をおこして全(すべ)てを飲(の)み込(こ)む。
  Umi no Nushi to yobareru umi no doragon. Tsunami o okoshite subete o nomikomu.
  A sea dragon known as the Lord of the Sea. He swallows everything and causes tsunami.
海嘯: (hydrology, rare) a tidal bore
Synonym: 潮津波 (shio tsunami, literally “tide tsunami”)
(hydrology, rare) a storm surge
Synonym: 風津波 (kaze tsunami, literally “wind tsunami”)

Usage notes

The 海嘯 spelling is specific to the tidal bore sense.^[4]

This term is sometimes encountered as the compound 地震津波 (jishin tsunami, literally “earthquake tsunami”), to make the meaning more explicitly clear and disambiguate from the tidal bore and storm surge senses.

Derived terms

山津波(やまつなみ) (yama tsunami): “mountain tsunami” → a landslide, a landslip
津波警報(つなみけいほう) (tsunami keihō): a tsunami warning

Descendants

→ Danish: tsunami c
→ English: tsunami
→ Portuguese: tsunami m
→ Russian: цуна́ми n (cunámi)
→ Turkish: tsunami

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK5-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[5] 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]