天草
Chinese
day; sky; heaven | grass; straw; draft (of a document) grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty | ||
---|---|---|---|
trad. (天草) | 天 | 草 | |
simp. #(天草) | 天 | 草 |
Etymology
Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 天草 (Amakusa).
Pronunciation
Proper noun
天草
- (~市) Amakusa (a city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan)
Japanese
Etymology 1
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
天 | 草 |
あま Grade: 1 | くさ Grade: 1 |
kun’yomi |
Compound of 天 (ama, “heavens”) + 草 (kusa, “grass, plant”).
The surname likely comes from the place name, the derivation of which is uncertain. Theories include:
- Named for the 海人 (ama, “sea people”) 草 (kusa, “tribe”) that lived in the archipelago in the region, as reported in the Nihon Shoki (720 CE)
- Named for the 甘草 (kanzō, “licorice”, literally “sweet grass”, alternative reading amakusa) harvested in the area
- Shift from 馬草 (makusa, umakusa, literally “horse grass”) from grazing areas in the region
Pronunciation
- Kun’yomi
- IPA(key): [a̠ma̠kɯ̟ᵝsa̠]
Proper noun
天草 • (Amakusa)
- Amakusa, a city in Kumamoto Prefecture
- a rare surname
Etymology 2
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
天 | 草 |
てん Grade: 1 | くさ > ぐさ Grade: 1 |
jūbakoyomi |
Compound of 天 (ten, “heavens”) + 草 (kusa, “grass, plant”). The kusa changes to gusa as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
Uses the on'yomi of ten for the 天 character.
Pronunciation
- Jūbakoyomi
- (Tokyo) てんぐさ [tèńgúsá] (Heiban – [0])[1]
- IPA(key): [tẽ̞ŋɡɯ̟ᵝsa̠]
Noun
天草 • (tengusa)
- any of the red algae of the genus Gelidium
- agar
Usage notes
As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as テングサ.
See also
- 寒天 (kanten)
- 心太 (tokoroten)
References
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
Further reading
- Etymology at Nihonjiten (in Japanese)