# 黄泉
## Chinese

* For pronunciation and definitions of 黄泉 – see 黃泉 (“yellow spring; underground spring; underworld; the land of the dead”). (This term is the simplified form of 黃泉).
* Notes:Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore.Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

## Japanese
### Etymology 1

Kanji in this term :
| 黄 | 泉 |
| よも ||
| Grade: 2 | Grade: 6 |
| jukujikun ||
* Alternative spelling
* 黃泉 (kyūjitai)
*⟨yo$_2$mo$_2$⟩ → */jəmə/ → ⟨yo$_2$mo⟩ → */jəmo/ → /jomo/
From Old Japanese, first attested in the Kojiki, the oldest extant historical record of ancient Japan, compiled in 712 CE. Appears to be the older combining form of yomi (see below).
The ablaut or apophonic form of cognate 山 (yama, “mountain”). Mountains were often used as a place to bury the dead and were strongly associated with the afterlife. (Can this etymology be sourced?)
Orthographic borrowing from Chinese 黃泉 / 黄泉 (huángquán, literally “yellow springs”), incorporating the underworld from Chinese mythology.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [jo̞mo̞]

#### Noun

黄泉(よも) • (yomo)
* (Shinto, archaic) the land of the dead; the afterworld, underworld

##### Usage notes

* Takes the Old Japanese possessive particle つ (tsu), as in the phrase 黄泉つ (yomo tsu).

##### Derived terms

* 黄泉(よも)つ (yomo tsu)
* 黄泉(よも)つ軍(いくさ) (yomo tsu ikusa, “army of the dead”)
* 黄泉(よも)つ神(かみ) (yomo tsu kami, “god of the dead”)
* 黄泉(よもつ)国(くに), 黄泉(よも)つ国(くに) (yomo tsu kuni, “land of the dead”)
* 黄泉(よもつ)醜(しこ)女(め), 黄泉(よも)つ醜(しこ)女(め) (yomo tsu shikome, “demoness inhabitant of the land of the dead”)
* 黄泉(よも)つ平坂(ひらさか) (yomo tsu hirasaka, “hills of the dead, lying between this world and the afterlife”)
* 黄泉(よもつ)竈(へ)食(ぐい), 黄泉(よも)つ竈食(へぐ)い (yomo tsu hegui, “eating from the kitchen of the dead → dying, death”)

### Etymology 2

Kanji in this term :
| 黄 | 泉 |
| よみ ||
| Grade: 2 | Grade: 6 |
| jukujikun ||
* Alternative spelling
* 黃泉 (kyūjitai)
*⟨yo$_2$mi$_2$⟩ → */jəmwi/ → /jomi/
From Old Japanese, first attested in the Kojiki (712 CE) alongside its combining form yomo (see above).
The ablaut or apophonic form of yomo. For this vowel alternation, see WT:AJPX#Standalone forms and combining forms.
Orthographic borrowing from Chinese 黃泉 / 黄泉 (huángquán, literally “yellow springs”), incorporating the underworld from Chinese mythology.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) よみ [yóꜜmì] (Atamadaka –)
* IPA: [jo̞mʲi]

#### Noun

黄泉(よみ) • (yomi)
* (Shinto) the land of the dead; the afterworld, underworld
    Synonyms: 泉下 (senka), 冥土 (meido), 冥府 (meifu), 黄泉路 (yomiji), 黄泉国 (yomo tsu kuni, yomi no kuni)

##### Derived terms

* 蘇(よみがえ)る, 甦(よみがえ)る (yomigaeru, “to return from the land of the dead → to be reborn”)
* 黄泉(よみ)の国(くに) (yomi-no-kuni, “land of the dead”)
* 黄泉(よみ)の旅(たび)人(びと) (yomi no tabibito, “traveler to the land of the dead → someone who has died”)
* 黄泉(よみ)戸(ど), 黄泉(よみ)門(ど) (yomi-do, “entrance to the land of the dead”)
* 黄泉(よみじ), 黄泉(よみ)路(じ) (yomiji, “road to the land of the dead”)

### Etymology 3

Kanji in this term :
| 黄 | 泉 |
| よみじ ||
| Grade: 2 | Grade: 6 |
| jukujikun ||
* Alternative spellings
* 黃泉 (kyūjitai) 黄泉路
Compound of 黄泉 (yomi, “land of the dead, underworld”, see above) + 路 (chi, “road”). The chi changes to ji as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
The kanji spelling reflects the extension of the sense from "the road to the underworld" to '"the underworld" itself.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) よみじ [yóꜜmìjì] (Atamadaka –)
* (Tokyo) よみじ [yòmíꜜjì] (Nakadaka – [2])
* IPA: [jo̞mʲiʑi]

#### Noun

黄泉(よみじ) • (yomiji)
* Alternative spelling of 黄泉路 (yomiji): the road to the land of the dead; by extension, the underworld itself

##### Usage notes

The 黄泉 spelling may be more common in certain contexts.

##### Derived terms

* 黄泉(よみじ)帰(がえ)り (yomiji-gaeri, “return from the underworld; resurrection, revival”)
* 黄泉(ヨミジ)鳥(ドリ) (yomiji-dori): alternative name for 虎鶇 (toratsugumi): White's Thrush, Zoothera aurea)

### Etymology 4

Kanji in this term :
| 黄 | 泉 |
| こう Grade: 2 | せん Grade: 6 |
| on'yomi ||
* Alternative spelling
* 黃泉 (kyūjitai)
/kwau sen/ → /kwɔːseɴ/ → /kɔːseɴ/ → /koːseɴ/
From Middle Chinese 黃泉 (MC hwang dzjwen, literally “yellow springs”). Attested in various Heian period texts.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) こーせん [kòóséń] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [ko̞ːsẽ̞ɴ]

#### Noun

黄(こう)泉(せん) • (kōsen)
* an underground spring
* the underworld, the land of the dead
    Synonyms: 冥土 (meido), 黄泉路 (yomiji)

##### Derived terms

* 黄(こう)泉(せん)の客(きゃく) (kōsen no kyaku, “visitor to the land of the dead → someone who has died”)
* 黄(こう)泉(せん)の旅(たび)人(びと) (kōsen no tabibito, “traveler to the land of the dead → someone who has died”)

##### Proverbs

* 黄(こう)泉(せん)の路(ろ)上(じょう)老(ろう)少(しょう)無(な)し (kōsen no rojō rōshō nashi, “on the road to the land of the dead, there is no old or young → death comes to all, regardless of age”)

### See also

* 地(じ)獄(ごく) (jigoku), 奈(な)落(らく) (naraku): similar concepts in Buddhism
* 高(たか)天(まの)原(はら) (takama no hara)
* 葦(あし)原(はら)の中(なか)つ国(くに) (ashihara no nakatsukuni)

### References

* 1 2 3 4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* 1 2 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* ↑ “こう‐せん［クヮウ‥］ 【黄泉】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here