須佐之男

Japanese

Kanji in this term

Grade: S

Grade: 4

Jinmeiyō

Grade: 1
goon kun'yomi
Alternative spellings
須佐能乎
素戔嗚

Etymology

Uncertain, with many possible derivations. One of the more compelling explanations is that this is a compound of すさ (susa, roughness, wildness, root word unattested in isolation, but found in terms such as 凄まじい (susamajii, terrible, dreadful) or 荒む (susamu, to be wild, to be savage)) +‎ (no, possessive particle) +‎ (o, man).[1] In this case, (Susa) would be ateji (()()).

Another theory is that this may be a compound of 須佐 (Susa, name of a place in Japan, where the god is supposed to have first touched earth) +‎ (no, possessive particle) +‎ (o, man).[2]

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) さの [sùsánóꜜò] (Nakadaka – [3])
  • IPA(key): [sɨ̥sa̠no̞o̞]

Proper noun

()()()() or 須佐之男(スサノオ) • (Susanooすさのを (Susanowo)?

  1. (Shinto, Japanese mythology) Susanoo, the Japanese god of storms
  2. (poetic) a storm

References

  1. ^ A. Slavic (1984), 日本文化の古層 [Nihon Bunka no Kosō, The Substrata of Japanese Culture]‎[1], Tōkyō: Mirai-sha, →ISBN, page 123
  2. ^ 神道の本:八百万の神々がつどう秘教的祭祀の世界 [Shintō no Hon: Happyaku-man no Kamigami ga Tsudou Hikyōteki Saishi no Sekai, The Shintō Book: The World of Esoteric Rituals, Crowded with 8 Million Gods]‎[2], Tōkyō: Gakken, 1992, →ISBN