卒塔婆

卒塔婆

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
卒	塔	婆
そつ > そ Grade: 4	とう Grade: S	ば Grade: S
irregular	on’yomi	goon

Alternative spellings
率塔婆 窣堵婆

From Middle Chinese 卒塔婆 (MC t͡siuɪt̚|t͡sʰuət̚|t͡suət̚ tʰɑp̚ buɑ), in turn a transliteration of Sanskrit स्तूप (stūpa, “heap, mound, relic-shrine, summit”).[1][2][3][4]

The length of the medial /-o-/ vowel has apparently varied somewhat over time. First cited to a text from 850, with the spelling 窣堵婆 (sotoba?).[1] The short-"o" reading sotoba appears to be more common in modern usage.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) そと​ーば [sòtóꜜòbà] (Nakadaka – [2])[2][5][6]
• IPA^(key): [so̞to̞ːba̠]

Noun

卒(そ)塔(とう)婆(ば) • (sotōba) ^{←そたふば (sotafuba)?}

1. [from 850] (Buddhism) stupa (structure housing Buddhist relics), dagoba
2. [from 1028] (Buddhism) wooden grave tablet

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
卒	塔	婆
そつ > そ Grade: 4	とう > と Grade: S	ば Grade: S
irregular		goon

Alternative spellings
卒塔婆 率塔婆 卒都婆 率都婆

Possibly a sound shift from sotōba. Then again, the length of the medial /-o-/ vowel has apparently varied somewhat over time. First cited to a text from 850, with the spelling 窣堵婆 (sotoba?).[1] The short-"o" reading sotoba appears to be more common in modern usage.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) そと​ば [sòtóꜜbà] (Nakadaka – [2])[2][5][6]
• (Tokyo) そとば [sòtóbá] (Heiban – [0])[2][5][6]
• IPA^(key): [so̞to̞ba̠]

Noun

卒(そ)塔(と)婆(ば) • (sotoba) 

1. [from 850] (Buddhism) stupa (structure housing Buddhist relics), dagoba
2. [from 1028] (Buddhism) wooden grave tablet

Derived terms

• 町石(ちょうせき)卒塔婆(そとば) (chōseki sotoba)

See also

• 舎(しゃ)利(り)塔(とう) (sharitō)

References

1. “卒都婆・卒塔婆・率都婆”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, →ISBN
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. “卒塔婆”, in デジタル大辞泉 (Dejitaru Daijisen)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
4. 1998, 広辞苑 (Kōjien), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
5. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
6. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN