鳥居

Chinese

		bird	reside
trad. (鳥居)		鳥	居
simp. (鸟居)		鸟	居

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 鳥居 (torii).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): niǎojū

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄠˇ ㄐㄩ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): niu⁵ geoi¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: niǎojū
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄠˇ ㄐㄩ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: niǎojyu
    • Wade–Giles: niao³-chü¹
    • Yale: nyǎu-jyū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: neaujiu
    • Palladius: няоцзюй (njaoczjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ni̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕy⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: niu⁵ geoi¹
    • Yale: níuh gēui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: niu⁵ goey¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: niu⁵ gêu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /niːu̯¹³ kɵy̯⁵⁵/

Noun

鳥居

1. torii (symbolic gate to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
鳥	居
とり Grade: 2	い Grade: 5
kun'yomi

鳥居 (torii): A typical red torii, as seen at the Ryōsen-ji Buddhist temple in Nara.

Etymology

Compound of 鳥 (tori, “bird”) +‎ 居 (i, “abode”). From old legends about birds possessed by kami and sitting on tree branches.

First cited to a text from 922 CE.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) とりい [tòríí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [to̞ɾʲii]

Noun

鳥(とり)居(い) • (torii) ^{←とりゐ (toriwi)?}

1. a torii: a symbolic gate to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple

   Synonym: 華表 (kahyō)

2. a similar roofless gate to a residence
3. the top bar of a railing
4. the top horizontal bar of a balance scale for measuring weight

Proper noun

鳥(とり)居(い) • (Torii) ^{←とりゐ (Toriwi)?}

1. a surname

Descendants

• → Chinese: 鳥居 / 鸟居 (niǎojū)
• → English: torii
• → Korean: 도리이 (dorii)
• → Russian: то́рии (tórii)