冷奴

冷奴

Chinese

		cold	slave
trad. (冷奴)		冷	奴
simp. #(冷奴)		冷	奴

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lěngnú

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄥˇ ㄋㄨˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lěngnú
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄥˇ ㄋㄨˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lěngnú
    • Wade–Giles: lêng³-nu²
    • Yale: lěng-nú
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: leengnu
    • Palladius: лэнну (lɛnnu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɤŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ nu³⁵/

Noun

冷奴

1. hiyayakko (Japanese dish)

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Japanese

FWOTD – 16 November 2017

冷奴 (hiyayakko): a serving of hiyayakko or cold tofu, with the traditional toppings of green onion, katsuobushi flakes, and soy sauce.

Kanji in this term
冷	奴
ひや Grade: 4	やっこ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

• 冷や奴

Etymology

Compound of 冷や (hiya, “cold”, combining form used in compounds) +‎ 奴 (yakko, “square block of tofu”).

奴 (yakko) originally referred to the lowest-ranking slaves in a household, and in later years, the term referred to male servants of a samurai.[1] The yakko in a procession would wear 半纏 (hanten, “short overcoat”) with a specific 紋 (mon, “crest”) of a square shape with the corners pointing vertically and horizontally. The term then came to be used as slang for the blocky shape, from the resemblance to the crest, giving rise to the term 奴豆腐 (yakkodōfu, “tofu cut into blocks and served”).[2][3]Yakko on its own was later used to mean this kind of tofu, leading to the terms 冷奴 (hiyayakko, “cold tofu block”) and 湯奴 (yuyakko, “hot tofu block”).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) ひやや​っこ [hìyáyáꜜkkò] (Nakadaka – [3])[2][4][5]
• IPA^(key): [çija̠ja̠k̚ko̞]

Noun

冷(ひや)奴(やっこ) • (hiyayakko) 

1. hiyayakko (a Japanese dish made with chilled tofu and toppings)

Usage notes

The literal interpretation of the characters as “cool guy” has led to this word being used on T-shirts (and so on) for stylistic and humorous effects.

Synonyms

• 冷(ひや)豆(どう)腐(ふ) (hiyadōfu)
• 奴(やっこ)豆(どう)腐(ふ) (yakkodōfu)
• 奴(やっこ) (yakko)

See also

• 湯(ゆ)奴(やっこ) (yuyakko): hot tofu
• 湯(ゆ)豆(どう)腐(ふ) (yudōfu): hot tofu

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
4. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
5. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN