蕎麦

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word 蕎麦. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word 蕎麦, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say 蕎麦 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word 蕎麦 you have here. The definition of the word 蕎麦 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of蕎麦, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: 荞麦 and 蕎麥

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
蕎麦 (soba): hulled buckwheat grains, showing the distinctive angular shape.
蕎麦 (soba): buckwheat noodles.

Etymology 1

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

Not attested until the middle of the Muromachi period (1336–1573), as a shortening of older 蕎麦 (soba mugi, literally soba grain).

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).
  • From (soba, an edge, a corner), in reference to the seed of the plant being a triangular oval shape with protruding corners.

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) (soba

  1. buckwheat
  2. soba, soba noodle, a variety of Japanese noodle made from buckwheat
    Synonym: 蕎麦切り (sobakiri)
    (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.
  3. a kind of low, flat, broad tea bowl, originally produced on the Korean peninsula and favored in tea ceremony, so called for the color of the glaze
  4. (archaic) a night-time streetwalker (specifically an unlicensed prostitute); from the way that night-time sellers of soba noodles via food carts would walk the streets in search of customers
  5. (archaic) sixteen of something (when counting); from the way that a length of 16 (mon, a traditional Japanese unit of length; 1 mon = approximately 2.4cm) worth of soba noodles would fill a single serving bowl
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
そば
Jinmeiyō
むぎ
Grade: 2
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
蕎麥 (kyūjitai)

From Old Japanese. First attested as the ideographic spelling 蕎麦 in a section of the Shoku Nihongi dated to 722. Later attested in the 本草和名 (Honzō Wamyō, Main Plants Japanese Names, a Japanese reference of plants used in Chinese medicine, compiled in 918) with the phonetic spelling 曾波牟岐 (so pa mu gi).

Analyzable as a compound of (soba, buckwheat) +‎ (mugi, dry-field grain). However, the soba portion is not attested in isolation to mean "buckwheat" until the middle of the Muromachi period (1336–1573). It appears that soba was originally the word (soba, corner, angle) in reference to the angular shape of the buckwheat grain. Compare the similar derivation of English buckwheat, where the buck element is cognate with beech and refers to the angular shape of the beechnut. An old Japanese name for the beech tree is in fact 柧棱木 (soba no ki), again in reference to the angular shape of the beechnut.

Pronunciation

Noun

(そば)(むぎ) (sobamugi

  1. (archaic) buckwheat

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
そば > そま
Jinmeiyō
むぎ
Grade: 2
irregular kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
蕎麥 (kyūjitai)

/sobamuɡi//somamuɡi/

Shift in pronunciation from sobamugi. First attested in the early 1100s.

Pronunciation

Noun

(そま)(むぎ) (somamugi

  1. (archaic) buckwheat

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
きょう
Jinmeiyō
ばく
Grade: 2
on'yomi kan'on
Alternative spelling
蕎麥 (kyūjitai)

Possibly a borrowing from Middle Chinese 蕎麥 (MC kjew|gjew meak). First attested in a section of the Shoku Nihongi dated to 722, and additionally later in imported works written in Chinese by Bai Juyi (772–846).

Unclear if this reading was ever prevalent; use might have been limited to kanbun contexts. Not listed in many Japanese dictionaries.

Pronunciation

Noun

(きょう)(ばく) (kyōbaku

  1. (obsolete) buckwheat

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 蕎麦”, in 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  2. ^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (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. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  6. ^ ”, in 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  7. ^ ソバ/蕎麦/そば - Gogen Yurai Jiten (in Japanese)
  8. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  9. 9.0 9.1 蕎麦”, in デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months