いささ小お川がわ

also: いさらおがわ

Meanings

trickling brook

archaic

Archaic literary term for a small, gently flowing stream. Not used in modern everyday Japanese; encountered mainly in classical poetry or historical descriptions.

古ふるい和わ歌かに「いささ小お川がわのせせらぎ」という表ひょう現げんが見みられる。
In old waka poetry, one finds the phrase 'the murmur of a trickling brook'.

Kanji

小little, small
川stream, river, river or three-stroke river radical (no. 47)
細dainty, get thin, taper

Related words

小お川がわ
Modern common word for 'brook' or 'stream'; いささ小川 is an archaic, poetic variant emphasizing a trickling flow.

Written forms

いささ小お川がわ
Archaic compound; the reading いささおがわ is restricted to this form and 細小小川.
いさら小お川がわ
Archaic compound; the reading いさらおがわ is restricted to this form and 細小小川.
細小小川
- いささおがわ
  Archaic compound; can be read as either いささおがわ or いさらおがわ.
- いさらおがわ
いさらおがわ

Etymology

The prefix いささ (also いさら) is an old element meaning 'small' or 'fine', combined with 小川 (brook). The exact origin of いささ/いさら is uncertain, but it appears in several archaic compounds.