蕎麦

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See also: 荞麦 and 蕎麥

Japanese

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蕎麦 (soba)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
そば
Jinmeiyō Grade: 2
jukujikun
Alternative spellings
蕎麥 (kyūjitai)
𛁛𛂦゙ (hentaigana)

Not attested until the late 1400s,[1] as a shortening of older 蕎麦 (soba mugi, literally soba grain).[1][2][3]

Two theories exist regarding the ultimate derivation of the soba element:

  • Samuel Martin reconstructs soba as Proto-Japonic *sonpa and derives it as a compound of *so (unknown) +‎ *pa (feather). The *pa changes to *nba as an instance of rendaku (連濁).[4]
  • From (soba, an edge, a corner),[5] in reference to the seed of the plant being a triangular oval shape with protruding corners.[6]

Considering the late appearance of soba in isolation with the meaning of buckwheat, and the attested earlier senses of side; corner, edge, Martin's reconstruction seems unlikely.

The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), from (buckwheat) +‎ (wheat).

Pronunciation

Noun

蕎麦(そば) or 蕎麦(そばむぎ) or 蕎麦(そまむぎ) (soba or sobamugi or somamugi

  1. buckwheat
    蕎麦(そば)(りょう)(おお)
    soba no ryō ga ōi
    There are a lot of buckwheats
  2. soba, a variety of Japanese noodle made from buckwheat
    (わたし)はあなたに蕎麦(そば)()べさせたいと(おも)っています。
    Watashi wa anata ni soba o tabesasetai to omotteimasu.
    I'm thinking about letting you try some soba noodles.

Derived terms

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 蕎麦”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  2. ^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  3. 3.0 3.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. ^ Samuel E. Martin (1987) The Japanese Language Through Time, New Haven, London: Yale University Press, →ISBN
  5. ^ ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  6. ^ ソバ/蕎麦/そば - Gogen Yurai Jiten (in Japanese)
  7. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  8. ^ 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