八尺瓊勾玉

Japanese

Kanji in this term
八 尺 瓊 勾 玉
や
Grade: 1		 しゃく > さか
Grade: 6		 に
Hyōgaiji		 まが
Grade: S		 たま
Grade: 1
Irregular
八尺瓊の勾玉: Artist's impressions of the (unseen) Imperial Regalia of Japan, with Yasakani no Magatama on the lower right

Alternative forms

Etymology

Phrase consisting of 八 (ya, “eight”) +‎ 尺 (saka, alternate reading for shaku, an ancient unit of length similar to the English foot) +‎ 瓊 (ni, “jade”, generally regarded as emphasizing the meaning of bead) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 勾玉 (magatama, “curved bead”, an ancient comma-shaped jewelry bead made of jade or other materials).[1]

A literal interpretation of the name would suggest a magatama of around eight feet in size. However, magatama were never that large. An alternate theory is that this magatama is, or was, part of an eight-foot necklace.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (Irregular reading)
    • (Tokyo) やさかにのまがたま [yàsákání nó mágátámá] (Heiban – [0])[2]
    • IPA(key): [ja̠sa̠ka̠ɲ̟i no̞ ma̠ɡa̠ta̠ma̠]

Proper noun

八尺瓊勾玉 (hiragana やさかにのまがたま, rōmaji Yasakani no Magatama)

  1. the "Eight-Foot Curved Jewel", one of the three sacred treasures comprising the Imperial Regalia of Japan

See also

References

  1. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. ↑ 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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