不知火

Japanese

Kanji in this term
不	知	火
しらぬ		ひ > い Grade: 1
Grade: 4	Grade: 2
jukujikun		kun'yomi

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

不知火 (妖怪)

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Shiranui (optical phenomenon)

Wikipedia

Etymology

/ɕiranu ɸi/ → /ɕiranuwi/ → /ɕiranui/

From 知らぬ (shiranu, “unknown”, archaic negative form of 知る (shiru), “to know”) +‎ 火 (hi, “fire”). Literally “unknown fire”, incorporating the 不知 kanbun or Chinese-derived spelling for the 知らぬ (shiranu, “not know(n), unknown”) portion.^[1]

First attested in a text from 1470.^[2]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しらぬい [shìránúí] (Heiban – [0])^[3][4][5]
• (Tokyo) しらぬい [shìráꜜnùì] (Nakadaka – [2])^[3][4][5]
• (Tokyo) しらぬい [shìránúꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])^[4]
• IPA^(key): [ɕiɾa̠nɯ̟i]

Noun

不知(しらぬ)火(い) • (shiranui) ^{←しらぬひ (siranufi)?}

1. [from 1470] a marine will o' the wisp, more specifically one seen off the coasts of Kyushu in the Yatsushiro Sea or Ariake Sea

   Synonyms: 陰火 (inka), 鬼火 (onibi), 狐火 (kitsunebi), 野火 (yaka), 幽霊火 (yūreibi)

Derived terms

• 不知(しらぬ)火(い)海(かい) (Shiranui Kai): an alternate name for the Yatsushiro Sea

See also

• 白縫(しらぬい) (shiranui, pillow word)

Proper noun

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

不知火

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Shiranui

Wikipedia

不知(しらぬ)火(い) • (Shiranui) ^{←しらぬひ (Siranufi)?}

1. a place name
2. a surname

Derived terms

• 不知(しらぬ)火(い)型(がた) (Shiranui-gata): one of the kata (routines) performed by a yokozuna (highest sumo rank) when entering the dohyō (sumo ring)

References

1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. “不知火”, in 日本国語大辞典‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
3. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
4. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
5. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN