霊屋

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
霊	屋
たま Grade: S	や Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
靈屋 (kyūjitai)

Compound of 霊 (tama, “soul, essence, life force”) +‎ 屋 (ya, “house; building”). First appears in the 1000s.

The term appears to be a shift in usage from the earlier terms 殯宮 (mogari no miya, araki no miya, literally “wake or mourning shrine”) and 喪屋 (moya, literally “funerary house”) seen in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.

Alternative forms

• 魂屋 (uncommon)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) たまや [tàmáꜜyà] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ta̠ma̠ja̠]

Noun

霊(たま)屋(や) • (tamaya) 

1. (Shinto) a shrine dedicated to a specific individual

   Synonyms: 霊廟 (reibyō), 霊殿 (tamadono), (see below) 霊屋 (reioku)

   日(にっ)光(こう)東(とう)照(しょう)宮(ぐう)は霊(たま)屋(や)の一(いち)例(れい)です。

   Nikkō Tōshōgū wa tamaya no ichirei desu.

   The Nikkō Tōshōgū is one example of a tamaya, a shrine dedicated to an individual.

2. (Shinto) a place where the remains of the dead are kept temporarily during a period of mourning, prior to burial at a formal funeral

   Synonym: 霊殿 (tamadono)

3. (Shinto) a roof placed over a grave, sometimes built to shelter offerings, incense, and the like from the elements

   Synonym: 上屋 (uwaya)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
霊	屋
れい Grade: S	おく Grade: 3
kan'on

Alternative spelling
靈屋 (kyūjitai)

Likely from Middle Chinese 靈屋 (MC leng 'uwk).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) れーおく [rèéókú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɾe̞ːo̞kɯ̟]

Noun

霊(れい)屋(おく) • (reioku) ^{←れいをく (reiwoku)?}

1. (Shinto) a shrine dedicated to a specific individual

   Synonyms: 霊廟 (reibyō), 霊殿 (tamadono), (see above) 霊屋 (tamaya)

References

• “霊屋”, in ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典 (Buritanika Kokusai Dai Hyakka Jiten: Shō Kōmoku Jiten, “Encyclopædia Britannica International: Micropædia”)‎^[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Britannica Japan Co., Ltd., 2014
• “霊屋”, in 日本大百科全書：ニッポニカ (Nippon Dai Hyakka Zensho: Nipponica, “Encyclopedia Nipponica”)‎^[3] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 1984