Japanese

紫苑: the aster

Alternative forms

• 紫菀 (less common)

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• し​おん (Atamadaka)^[1]
• しおん (Heiban)^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɕiõ̞ɴ]

Noun

紫苑 ‎(hiragana しおん, romaji shion, historical hiragana しをん)

1. an aster, a Michaelmas daisy: Aster tataricus

Proper noun

紫苑 ‎(hiragana しおん, romaji Shion, historical hiragana しをん)

1. A female given name

Derived terms

• 紫苑色 (しおんいろ, ​shion iro): a specific color coordination when wearing layered robes, usually with violet (the color of the aster) as one of the layers

Etymology 2

Alteration from shion, where the final moraic n changed to ni.^[2][3]

/ɕion/ → /ɕioni/

Pronunciation

• On'yomi, irregular
• IPA^(key): [ɕio̞ni]

Noun

紫苑 ‎(hiragana しおに, romaji shioni, historical hiragana しをに)

1. an aster, a Michaelmas daisy: Aster tataricus

Proper noun

紫苑 ‎(hiragana しおに, romaji Shioni, historical hiragana しをに)

1. A female given name

Etymology 3

Alteration from shion, using the kan'on reading of en for the second character. Less common.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ɕiẽ̞ɴ]

Proper noun

紫苑 ‎(hiragana しえん, romaji Shien, historical hiragana しゑん)

1. (rare) A female given name

References

1. 1 2 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3
2. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
3. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9