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 (当て字).

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. ^ p. 123日本文化の古層 (Nihon Bunka no Kosō, “The Substrata of Japanese Culture”, in Japanese) by A. Slavic, Mirai-sha, Tōkyō, 1984; →ISBN: http://books.google.com/books?id=crirHAAACAAJ
  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”, in Japanese), Gakken, Tōkyō, 1992; →ISBN: http://books.google.com/books?id=mWxrmgEACAAJ