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A shift from a compound of 堅(kata-, stem meaning "firm, hard") + 魚(uo, “fish”), from the long-standing practice of drying lower-grade tuna into hard blocks, in part due to the common presence of parasites. A folk etymology also derives this kanji character, compare 木工 → 杢(moku, “woodworker”, archaic) and 麻呂 → 麿(maro, first-personpronoun, archaic).
A shift from a compound of 勝つ(katsu, “to win”) + 魚(uo, “fish”).
Considering the rules of Old Japanese phonology, specifically that two vowels are not allowed in sequence, resulting in elision or fusion, the kata + uo → katuo shift seems likely.
The kanji spelling is an example of 国訓(kokkun, “Japanese-specific kun'yomi”) and its use may stem from the 堅魚 spelling.[2]
, available online here. Katuwo appears spelled as 堅魚. While this does not phonetically spell katuwo itself, given the meter of the poetry, this word must have three morae, and given Old Japanese phonology, we know that this cannot have been kata uwo due to the restriction on successive vowels.