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Hiragana
pronunciation
of Kanji will pop up when you run your mouse over the character. |
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「狸」の表現
'Tanuki'
expressions |
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狸寝入りする |
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Literally,
'to fall asleep like a tanuki', this expression comes from the
tanuki's habit of fainting when suddenly confronted. Other animals
also have this habit, hence the English expression of the same
meaning, to 'play possum'.
eg.「ちょっと､狸寝入りしないで､聞いてよ！」
'Stop pretending
to be asleep and listen to me!' |
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取らぬ狸の皮算用 |
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Literally
'counting the pelts of tanuki not yet caught', this expression
is equivalent to 'Don't count your chickens before they are
hatched.' |
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他抜き |
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'take
away others' Little tanuki statues can be found outside shops
and restaurants in downtown areas. Their significance comes
from the play on words 他を抜く
to take away others. If you take away others, you are the best!
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たぬきうどん |
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たぬきうどん
and たぬきそば are
dishes found in the Kanto region. They refer to soup noodle
dishes which are served with てんかす,
bits of fried batter, which is considered to be disguised tempura.
These dishes do not exist in the Kansai region, as there is
always a bowl of てんかすon
the table to be used with any dish. These dishes are not to
be confused with きつねうどんand
きつねそば,
which are soup noodles served with thin pieces of fried bean
curd! |
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「狐」の表現
Fox expressions
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An
animal that plays a similar role to the tanuki in Japanese folklore
is the fox. Both tanuki and fox are considered sly, but the Japanese
think of a tanuki as being まぬけ(simple-minded),
wheras they think of a fox as being more ずる賢い(crafty
and cunning). |
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きつねとたぬきの化かし合い
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Literally
'fox and tanuki tricking each other', this refers to two people
trying to outsmart (outfox!) each other. |
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狐の嫁入り
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This
expression has come from a folktale about a fox's wedding,
狐の嫁入り,
and the idea that someone (like a fox) is playing tricks when
in the midst of fine weather there is a sudden shower. eg.
「雨が降ってきた。狐の嫁入りだ！」'It's
started to rain. It's a sunshower!' |
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きつね色
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Light,
golden brown. Often used to describe bread, eg.
パンを狐色に焼く,
to toast to a golden brown. |
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昔話の表現 Folktale
expressions |
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Just
as in English folktales begin with 'Once upon a time there was....�,
Japanese tales begin with the following expression:
「むかし、むかし､あるところに ……… がいました。」 And
in the end, if they all live happily ever after, the Japanese say:
「めでたし、めでたし。」 |
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漢字 |
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You
will probably have noticed that the kanji for たぬきand
きつね
have an element in common. This is the left-hand radical「 」called
けものへん animal
radical jwhich comes from the kanji for dog, 犬.
This radical appears
in many words for animals, eg.
狸（たぬき）、狐（きつね）、狼（おおかみ）、猪（いのしし）、猫（ねこ）.
These words, except for 猫,
are usually written in hiragana when they stand alone and in kanji
when part of a compound.
They show the role radicals play in the kanji system, giving a generic
meaning to a 'family' of related words. What are the meanings of the
five animal names left?
Answers:
tanuki, wolf, boar, fox, cat
Errata: In the Kaji Section of アラカルトno.
37 神話
should have read 神学
(theology) |
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