さよなきどり

さ

よ

な

き

ど

り

Meanings

noun

nightingale; common nightingale

usually written using kana alone

Refers specifically to the common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos). Often written in katakana as サヨナキドリ. Compare with ナイチンゲール, which is the more common loanword for 'nightingale' in modern Japanese.

Kanji

小little, small
夜night, evening
鳴chirp, cry, bark
鳥bird, chicken
啼bark, chirp, cry

Related words

ナイチンゲール
ナイチンゲール is the common modern loanword for 'nightingale', while サヨナキドリ is a native Japanese term that is more literary or poetic.

Built from

小さ夜よ+鳴なき鳥どり

Written forms

小さ夜よ啼なき鳥どり
Literary kanji spelling; the word is usually written in kana.
小さ夜よ鳴なき鳥どり
Alternate kanji spelling; less common than 小夜啼鳥.
サヨナキドリ
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is common for this bird name; usually written in kana.

Etymology

Compound of 小夜 (sayo, 'evening; night') + 鳴き (naki, 'singing') + 鳥 (tori, 'bird'), literally 'bird that sings at night'. The kanji 啼 is an alternative character for 'to sing' used in bird names.