天あまの川がわ

あ

ま

の

が

わ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

Milky Way

astronomy

The galaxy that contains our solar system, visible as a broad band of light across the night sky. In Japanese culture, it is also associated with the Tanabata legend.

夏なつの夜よ空ぞらに天あまの川がわがきれいに見みえる。
The Milky Way looks beautiful in the summer night sky.
天あまの川がわ銀ぎん河がは、私わたしたちの太たい陽よう系けいを含ふくむ銀ぎん河がです。
The Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that contains our solar system.

Written forms

天の川Usage97%
- あまのがわ
  Standard kanji spelling. The reading あまのがわ is the modern standard.
- あまのかわ
  out-dated reading
天の河Usage3%
- あまのがわ
  Alternate kanji spelling using 河 instead of 川; both are used, but 天の川 is more common.
- あまのかわ
  out-dated reading
あまのかわ
out-dated reading

Kanji

天heavens, sky, imperial
川stream, river, river or three-stroke river radical (no. 47)
河river

Similar words

銀ぎん河が
銀河 is a general term for 'galaxy', while 天の川 specifically refers to the Milky Way, our own galaxy, often in a poetic or observational context.

Etymology

Literally 'river of heaven', from 天 (ama, 'heaven') + の (no, possessive particle) + 川 (kawa, 'river'). The reading あまのがわ is a compound with rendaku (sequential voicing) of かわ to がわ. The alternate reading あまのかわ is obsolete.