🌏 Region(s): Ryukyu (Okinawa)
はじち【針突・針突ち】 : hajichi | define meaning
hajichi
Pronunciation: [had͡ʑit͡ɕi]
Definition
Noun
- Tattoo; tattooing
Etymology
Cognate with Kikai (Onotsu) ふぁぎ fagi ~ fwagi and ふぁづき fadzuki; Kikai (Shitooke) はづき hadzuki; Kikai (Shiomichi) はどぅち haduchi; Kikai (Aden) はぢち hadjichi; Amami (Shodon) はでィｷ hadïk; Amami (Koniya) はでぃｷ hadik; Tokunoshima はんずィーき hanzïïki; Okinoerabu ふぁんじち fanjichi and はんじち hanjichi; Yoron ぱんじち panjichi and ぱじち pajichi; Okinoerabu, Kunigami (Takazato) and Okinawan (Shuri, Torishima) はじち hajichi; Yonaguni はでぃち hadichi "tattoo, tattooing". Related to, if not cognate with, Miyako (Nishihara) haitsïtsï; Miyako (Uruka, Yonaha) piɿtsɿkɿ [piɿtsɿ̥kɿ]; Tarama ぱﾙつィけィ partsïkï; Minna ぱいつき paitsuki; Yaeyama (Taketomi) へェじち hëjichi [həzici] "tattoo".
Reconstructions:
- Most sources such as Nakamoto (1982) reconstruct 針突 *pariduki, i.e. a compound of *pari 【針】 "needle" and the rendaku form of *tuki 【突】 "pricking".
Historical attestations:
- Essay in Aid of a Grammar and Dictionary of the Luchuan Language (1895), by Basil Hall Chamberlain, records "Hadzichi, tattooing, — only that on women's hands is so called."
Notes
Traditionally, Ryukyuan women would often have the back of their right hand and lower arm tattooed. Some men, notably sailors of lower status, were also observed with tattoos on their right arms. It was generally considered taboo to get the left hand or arm tattooed. The practice was later banned by the Meiji government in the late 19th century.
The Vocabulary of the language spoken at the Great Loo-Choo island in the Japan Sea (1818), by Herbert John Clifford, records the term "toóga" (modern tuga) for a tattoo on the left arm; however, this term actually means "wrongdoing, sin" (compare Japanese とが【咎・科】 toga).
意味：いれずみ【入れ墨・入墨・刺青・文身】、しせい【刺青】、タトゥー、ぶんしん【文身】