夜中

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
夜	中
よ Grade: 2	なか Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Compound of 夜 (yo, “night”) +‎ 中 (naka, “middle”).^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

Kun’yomi
- (Tokyo) よなか [yònákáꜜ] (Odaka – [3])^[2]^[3]
- IPA^(key): [jo̞na̠ka̠]

Noun

夜中 (hiragana よなか, rōmaji yonaka)

late at night, the middle of the night
midnight
Synonym: 真夜中 (mayonaka)

Usage notes

The midnight sense of specifically at 12:00 AM is more commonly expressed by the term 真夜中 (mayonaka).

Derived terms

Derived terms

真 (ま)夜 (よ)中 (なか) (mayonaka, “midnight”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
夜	中
や Grade: 2	ちゅう Grade: 1
on’yomi

Apparently from Middle Chinese 夜中 (MC jia^H ʈɨuŋ).

Pronunciation

On’yomi: Goon
- (Tokyo) やちゅう [yáꜜchùù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]^[3]
- (Tokyo) やちゅう [yàchúú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[3]
- IPA^(key): [ja̠t͡ɕɨᵝː]

Noun

夜中 (hiragana やちゅう, rōmaji yachū)

nighttime, the night, the period of time during the night

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
夜	中
よ Grade: 2	じゅう Grade: 1
yutōyomi

Compound of 夜 (yo, “night”) +‎ 中 (jū, “during, throughout”).^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

Yutōyomi
- (Tokyo) よじゅう [yòjúú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
- IPA^(key): [jo̞ʑɨᵝː]

Noun

夜中 (hiragana よじゅう, rōmaji yojū, historical hiragana よぢゆう)

the entire night, the period of time throughout the night

References

1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
1 2 3 4 5 6 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
1 2 3 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

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