閑古鳥

Japanese

Kanji in this term
閑	古	鳥
かん Grade: S	こ Grade: 2	とり > どり Grade: 2
kan'on		kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
閑子鳥 (less common)

Etymology

First attested in the Nippo Jisho of 1603.^[1]

Further etymology

Analyzable as a compound of 閑古 (kanko, “lonesome and old”, otherwise unattested) +‎ 鳥 (tori, “bird”). The tori changes to dori as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

The kanko initial portion is apparently a shift in pronunciation from 郭公 (kakkō, “cuckoo”, onomatopoeia for the bird's call), and is likely an example of both meaning-based jukujikun (熟字訓) and sound-based ateji (当て字) for poetic purposes, from the lonesome sound of the cuckoo's call, as alluded to in poetry by Bashō.

憂(う)きわれをさびしがらせよ閑(かん)古(こ)鳥(どり)
uki ware o sabishigaraseyo kanko-dori
you're making me blue, cuckoo

From Matsuo Bashō's 嵯峨日記 (Saga Nikki, “Saga Diary”), 1691

While kanko-dori could be viewed as a shift from 郭公鳥 (kakkō-dori), this latter term is not attested until 1686.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) かんこどり [kàńkóꜜdòrì] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [kã̠ŋko̞do̞ɾʲi]

Noun

閑(かん)古(こ)鳥(どり) • (kankodori)

[from 1603] a cuckoo
Synonyms: 郭公 (kakkō), 郭公鳥 (kakkō-dori)
[from 1718] (figurative) loneliness, dreariness, desolateness

Idioms

閑古鳥(かんこどり)が歌(うた)う (kankodori ga utau, “loneliness and general lack of activity”)
閑古鳥(かんこどり)が鳴(な)く (kankodori ga naku, “loneliness and general lack of activity”)

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

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