神代文字

Chinese

		God; unusual; mysterious God; unusual; mysterious; soul; spirit; divine essence; lively; spiritual being	substitute; replace; generation substitute; replace; generation; dynasty; geological era; era; age; period	written symbols; writing; script written symbols; writing; script; text; characters
simp. and trad. (神代文字)		神	代	文字

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shén dài wénzì

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄣˊ ㄉㄞˋ ㄨㄣˊ ㄗˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shén dài wénzì
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄣˊ ㄉㄞˋ ㄨㄣˊ ㄗˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shén dài wúnzìh
    • Wade–Giles: shên² tai⁴ wên²-tzŭ⁴
    • Yale: shén dài wén-dz̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shern day wentzyh
    • Palladius: шэнь дай вэньцзы (šɛnʹ daj vɛnʹczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂən³⁵ taɪ̯⁵¹ wən³⁵ t͡sz̩⁵¹/

Noun

神代文字

1. jindai moji (purported Japanese scripts)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
神	代	文	字
じん Grade: 3	だい Grade: 3	もん > も Grade: 1	じ Grade: 1
goon		irregular	goon

Alternative spelling
神代文字 (kyūjitai)

Compound of 神代 (jindai, “the age of the gods, a mythological age before the reign of Emperor Jimmu”) +‎ 文字 (moji, “character, writing”).

Attested since at least 1895.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) じんだいもじ [jìńdáí móꜜjì] (Nakadaka – [5])
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑĩnda̠i mo̞ʑi]

Noun

神(じん)代(だい)文(も)字(じ) • (jindai moji) 

1. [from 1895] any of various writing systems claimed to predate Japan's adoption of Chinese characters and perpetuated by feudal scholars, but widely discredited by modern scholars

Derived terms

• 神(しん)字(じ) (shinji) (abbreviation)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
神	代	文	字
かみ Grade: 3	よ Grade: 3	もん > も Grade: 1	じ Grade: 1
kun'yomi		irregular	goon

Alternative spelling
神代文字 (kyūjitai)

Likely a shift from jindai moji, adopting the kun'yomi of kamiyo for the first portion.

Also analyzable as a compound of 神代 (kamiyo, “the age of the gods, a mythological age before the reign of Emperor Jimmu”) +‎ 文字 (moji, “character, writing”).

Date of first appearance is unclear. This reading is unusual, and usage might be regional; it is not included in many references.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ka̠mʲijo̞ mo̞ʑi]

Noun

神(かみ)代(よ)文(も)字(じ) • (kamiyo moji) 

1. [date uncertain] (possibly dialect, Tōhoku) any of various writing systems claimed to predate Japan's adoption of Chinese characters and perpetuated by feudal scholars, but widely discredited by modern scholars