種子島

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
種 子 島
たね しま
Grade: 3
Grade: 4 Grade: 1
jukujikun kun'yomi
Alternative spellings
種が島 (“matchlock”)
多禰島 (“Tanegashima island”, rare, historical)
多禰嶋 (“Tanegashima island”, rare, historical)
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種子島 (Tanegashima): the island of Tanegashima.
種子島 (Tanegashima): a Tanegashima gun, or matchlock.

Etymology

Analyzable as a compound of 種 (tane, “seed”) +‎ が (ga, ancient genitive or possessive particle) +‎ 島 (shima, “island”).

The 種子 spelling for the tane portion is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), using the spelling from a Chinese-derived synonym.

First mentioned in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE with the spelling 多禰嶋, where 多禰 (tane) appears to be a phonetic spelling of 種 (tane, “seed”), and 嶋 is an alternative form of 島 (shima, “island”).

The matchlock sense arose as an abbreviation of either 種子島銃 (Tanegashima jū, literally “Tanegashima gun”) or 種子島鉄砲 (Tanegashima teppō, literally “Tanegashima cannon”), which names arose due to matchlocks first being imported to Japan by the Portuguese in 1543, via the island of Tanegashima.[1][2][3][4]

This sense is first cited to a text from 1607,[5] but it was likely in use before this date.

Pronunciation

Noun

種子島(たねがしま) • (tanegashima) 

  1. 種が島: matchlock
    Synonyms: 火縄銃 (hinawa jū, literally “fire-rope gun”), 種子島銃 (Tanegashima jū, literally “Tanegashima gun”), 種子島鉄砲 (Tanegashima teppō, literally “Tanegashima cannon”)
  2. a kind of fragrant aloeswood used for incense
  3. (slang, archaic) fugu (so named for the way that poorly-prepared fugu is deadly, like a matchlock)
    Synonyms: 河豚 (fugu), 鉄砲 (teppō, literally “cannon”)

Proper noun

種子島(たねがしま) • (Tanegashima) 

  1. 多禰島, 多禰嶋: Tanegashima (an island in Kagoshima Prefecture)
  2. a surname

References

  1. ^ “種子島”, in ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典 (Buritanika Kokusai Dai Hyakka Jiten: Shō Kōmoku Jiten, “Encyclopædia Britannica International: Micropædia”)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Britannica Japan Co., Ltd., 2014
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  6. ^ 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
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