狐火

Japanese

FWOTD – 31 October 2023

狐火 (kitsunebi): a print depicting the commonly held folk belief that will o' the wisps or foxfire was caused by a fox.

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

狐火

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English Wikipedia has an article on:

kitsunebi

Wikipedia

English Wikipedia has an article on:

will-o'-the-wisp

Wikipedia

Kanji in this term
狐	火
きつね Hyōgai	ひ > び Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Etymology

Compound of 狐(きつね) (kitsune, “fox”) + 火(ひ) (hi, “fire”).^[1][2] The hi changes to bi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

First cited to a text from 1488.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) きつねび [kìtsúnéꜜbì] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [kʲi̥t͡sɨne̞bʲi]

Noun

狐(きつね)火(び) • (kitsunebi) 

1. a mysterious pale fire often seen in the fields and mountains at night from winter to early spring: will o' the wisp, foxfire

   Synonyms: 燐火 (rinka), 鬼火 (onibi), 狐の提灯 (kitsune no chōchin)

   • 1488, Sanjōnishi Sanetaka (三条西実隆), 実隆公記 [Sanetakakōki]:

     夜(ヤ)前(ゼン)於(オイテ)_㆓野(ノ)路(ヂニ)_㆒有(アリ)_㆓狐(キツネ)火(ビ)_㆒

     yazen noji ni oite kitsunebi ari

     will o' the wisps appeared in the field path last night

   • 1784, Yosa Buson, 蕪村句集 [Buson kushū]:

     狐(きつね)火(び)や髑(どく)髏(ろ)に雨(あめ)のたまる夜(よ)に

     kitsunebi ya dokuro ni ame no tamaru yo ni

     There's foxfire on nights when the rain collects in the skull.

2. kabuki props designed to imitate will o' the wisps

   Synonyms: 焼酎火 (shōchūbi), 樟脳火 (shōnōbi)

3. Synonym of 野鶏頭 (nogeitō /⁠ノゲイトウ⁠/, “plumed or silver cockscomb (Celosia argentea)”)
4. Synonym of 埃茸 (hokoritake /⁠ホコリタケ⁠/, “puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum)”)

References

1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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