Chinese

Noun

旅人

1. traveller
2. (literary) itinerant
3. (literary) common people
4. (archaic) official

Japanese

Etymology 1

Compound of 旅 ‎(tabi, “travel”) +‎ 人 ‎(hito, “person”).^[1][2]The hito changes to bito as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) たびびと [tàbíbító] (Heiban - [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ta̠bibito̞]

Noun

旅人 ‎(hiragana たびびと, romaji tabibito)

1. one who travels: a traveler

Usage notes

For the traveler sense, the tabibito reading is the most common in modern Japanese.

Etymology 2

Either an alteration of tabibito above,^[1][2] or a compound of 旅 ‎(tabi, “travel”) +‎ 人 ‎(to, “person”, suffixing form).^[1] Compare the formation of 隼人 ‎(hayato, name of an ancient ethnic group in Japan, literally “hawk people”), 東人 ‎(azumato, “easterner”).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ta̠bito̞]

Noun

旅人 ‎(hiragana たびと, romaji tabito)

1. (archaic) one who travels: a traveler

Etymology 3

*/tapiputo/ → */tabibuto/ → /tabiudo/

Compound of 旅 ‎(tabi, “travel”) +‎ 人 ‎(udo, “person”).

The term 人 ‎(hito, “person”) appears in various older compounds with a root form of 人 ‎(*puto → *buto → *udo, *puto → *futo → *uto). This form is never seen in isolation, and it often undergoes further phonetic changes to combine with preceding vowels. Compare the formation of 仲人 ‎(nakōdo), from naka + udo; 素人 ‎(shirōto), from shiro + uto.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ta̠biɯᵝdo̞]

Noun

旅人 ‎(hiragana たびうど, romaji tabiudo)

1. (archaic) one who travels: a traveler

Etymology 4

*/tapiputo/ → */tabibuto/ → /tabiudo/ → /tabjuːdo/

Alteration from tabiudo above.^[1] Compare the formation of 仲人 ‎(nakōdo), from naka + udo; 素人 ‎(shirōto), from shiro + uto.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [ta̠bjɯᵝːdo̞]

Noun

旅人 ‎(hiragana たびゅうど, romaji tabyūdo, historical hiragana たびうど)

1. (uncommon) one who travels: a traveler

Etymology 5

Compound of 旅 ‎(tabi, “travel”) +‎ 人 ‎(nin, “person; type of person”, using the Chinese-derived goon reading).^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• Yutōyomi
• (Tokyo) たびにん [tàbíníń] (Heiban - [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ta̠bĩnĩɴ]

Noun

旅人 ‎(hiragana たびにん, romaji tabinin)

1. one who is constantly going from one place to another:
   1. a migrant worker
   2. an itinerant, especially someone like a gambler, mountebank or peddler

Synonyms

• (the general sense of someone who doesn't stay in one place very long): 渡 (わた)り鳥 (どり) ‎(wataridori); 渡 (わた)り者 (もの) ‎(watarimono)

Etymology 6

From later Middle Chinese compound 旅人 ‎(ljo^X ȵʑjen, literally “travel + person”). Compare modern Mandarin reading lǚrén.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) りょじん [ryòjíń] (Heiban - [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [rjo̞d͡ʑĩɴ]

Noun

旅人 ‎(hiragana りょじん, romaji ryojin)

1. in ancient China, an official title, referring to a commoner in an official government position
2. one who travels: a traveler

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9