蝦夷

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• 蝦夷

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 蝦夷 (Emishi, Ezo).

蝦夷

1. Emishi (ancient ethnic group living in eastern Japan)

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蝦夷

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Emishi

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First cited in the 久安百首 (Kyūan Hyaku Shu, “Hundred Songs of the Kyūan Era”) of 1153.

There are conflicting theories regarding the derivation of the term Ezo. The Daijirin, Shinmeikai, and Gakken dictionaries all suggest that Ezo may be a borrowing from Ainu エンチウ, enciw (“person; people, humanity”), presumably via a phonological shift somewhat like the below:

/ent͡siw/ → */ent͡ʃiu/ → */ent͡ʃu/ → */end͡ʑu/ → /ezo/

The Kokugo Dai Jiten dictionary instead derives synonymous reading Emishi from enciw, but the phonological shifts required for such a derivation seem unlikely.

• (Tokyo) えぞ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

蝦夷(えぞ) • (Ezo) 

1. (historical) those people living in the northeast of Japan, regardless of ethnicity, with customs and culture and government that differ from the central Japanese imperial state
2. (historical) an ancient ethnic group that once lived in what is now the 関東 (Kantō), 北陸 (Hokuriku) and 東北 (Tōhoku) regions, likely as far as Hokkaido; likely related to the Ainu people
   • 1153, Kyūan Hyakushu (poem 34 by Fujiwara no Chikataka)

     えぞが住(す)む津(つ)軽(がろ)の野辺(のべ)の萩盛(はぎさか)りこや錦(にしき)木(ぎ)の立(た)てるなるらん

     Ezo ga sumu Tsugaro-no-nobe no hagi sakari koya nishikigi no taterunaruran

     In Tsugaro where the Ezo live, the fields are abloom with clover; by now they will be setting up wooden trees, brocaded with desire.

   Synonyms: 蝦夷 (Emishi), 夷 (Ebisu)

3. (regional) short for 蝦夷松 (Ezo matsu): Yezo spruce (Picea jezoensis)

• 蝦夷(えぞ)地(ち) (Ezochi, broadly, Hokkaidō, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands, literally “Ezo Land”)
• 赤(あか)蝦夷(えぞ) (Akaezo, Japanese term for Russians in the Kuril Islands, literally “red Ezo”)

蝦夷(えぞ) • (Ezo) 

1. (historical) short for 蝦夷地 (Ezochi): collective name for Hokkaido (mostly), the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin before the Meiji period

• → English: Ezo, Yezo

• 樺太(からふと) (Karafuto, “Sakhalin”)
• 千(ち)島(しま) (Chishima, “Kuril Islands”)
• えびすめ

⟨emi₁si⟩ → */emʲisɨ/ → /emiɕi/

From Old Japanese 蝦夷 (Emi₁si). First cited in the Nihon Shoki of 720, where the word is also found with the phonetic man'yōgana spelling 愛瀰詩 (Emi₁si). Further derivation unclear. Possibly from Ainu エムㇱ (“sword”) via metonymous use to refer to a warrior.

According to the Kojiki-den, the kanji spelling 蝦 (“shrimp”) + 夷 (“barbarian”) is in reference to their hairiness and savagery.

• (Tokyo) えみし (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

蝦夷(えみし) • (Emishi) 

1. (historical, archaic) an ancient ethnic group that once lived on what is now the 関東 (Kantō), 北陸 (Hokuriku) and 東北 (Tōhoku) regions, likely as far as Hokkaido; likely related to the Ainu people

This term is considered as an insult to modern Ainu people.

• → English: Emishi, Yemishi

蝦夷(えみし) • (Emishi) 

1. short for 蘇我蝦夷 (Soga no Emishi): Asuka-period statesman of the Yamato court, son of Soga no Umako and father of Soga no Iruka

⟨emi₁si⟩ → */emʲisɨ/ → /emisʉ/ → /emisu/ → /ebisu/

Either a shift from Emishi or directly from Emisu, with the nasal /m/ becoming a plosive /b/. This reading is traditionally ascribed to the 蝦夷 spelling in the 肥前国風土記 (Hizen no Kuni no Fudoki) of the 730s, but the first unambiguous instance of this reading appears in the 宇津保物語 (Utsubo Monogatari) of the late 900s.

• (Tokyo) えびす (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

蝦夷(えびす) • (Ebisu) 

1. (historical, archaic) an ancient ethnic group that once lived on what is now the 関東 (Kantō), 北陸 (Hokuriku) and 東北 (Tōhoku) regions, likely as far as Hokkaido; likely related to the Ainu people

• 夷(えびす), 戎(えびす) (ebisu, “barbarian; foreigner”)
• 東(あずま)蝦夷(えびす) (azuma ebisu, “eastern Emishi or barbarians”)

⟨emi₁si⟩ → */emʲisɨ/ → /emisʉ/ → /emisu/

Shift from Emishi. This reading appears in the Heian-period Nihon Shoki Shiki, a lectural interpretation of the Nihon Shoki compiled in different editions, from the years 721 through 967.

• (Tokyo) えみす (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

蝦夷(えみす) • (Emisu) 

1. (historical, rare) an ancient ethnic group that once lived on what is now the 関東 (Kantō), 北陸 (Hokuriku) and 東北 (Tōhoku) regions, likely as far as Hokkaido; likely related to the Ainu people

• 陸奥(みちのく) (Michinoku)

Borrowed from Ainu, either from エンジュ (*enzyu) or エㇺチウ (*emchiu), both meaning “man, person”.

According to the Kojiki-den, the kanji spelling 蝦 (“shrimp”) + 夷 (“barbarian”) is in reference to their hairiness and savagery.

蝦夷 (Emi₁si) (kana えみし)

1. an ancient ethnic group that once lived on eastern and northeastern Japan and was possibly related to the Ainu people
   • 720, Nihon Shoki (poem 11)

     愛瀰詩烏毗儾利毛毛那比苔比苔破易陪廼毛多牟伽毗毛勢儒

     Emi₁si wo pi₁dari momo na pi₁to₂ pi₁to₂ pa ipe₂do₂ mo tamukapi₁ mo sezu

     A single Emishi is worth a hundred men, so they say, yet they did not resist.

     For more quotations using this term, see Citations:蝦夷.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:蝦夷.

• 荒蝦夷 (ara-Emi₁si, “rough Emishi opposed to the Yamato court”)
• 熟蝦夷 (niki₁-Emi₁si, “gentle Emishi allied with the Yamato court”)

• Japanese: 蝦夷 (Emishi, Emisu, Ebisu, Ezo)

• “Emisi” at Oxford-NINJAL Corpus of Old Japanese