漁師

漁師

Japanese

漁師 (ryōshi): salmon fishermen in Oregon, 1914.

Kanji in this term
漁	師
りょう Grade: 4	し Grade: 5
on’yomi

Etymology

The spelling is likely from Middle Chinese compound 漁師 (ngjo srij, literally “fishing + master”). Compare modern Mandarin 漁師 (yúshī, “fisherman”).

The expected reading would be gyoshi. The kan'yōyomi (irregular but customary reading) of ryō for the 漁 character is from confusion with the 猟 character, usually read ryō in on'yomi contexts and meaning “hunt, hunting”, as used in the homophonic term 猟師 (ryōshi, “hunter”).[1]

Pronunciation

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) りょ​ーし [ryóꜜòshì] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [ɾʲo̞ːɕi]

Noun

漁師 (hiragana りょうし, rōmaji ryōshi, historical hiragana れふし)

1. a fisherman, someone who fishes as a livelihood

Synonyms

• 漁 (ぎょ)民 (みん) (gyomin)
• 漁 (ぎょ)夫 (ふ) (gyofu) (archaic)
• 海人 (かいじん) (kaijin), 海 (あ)人 (ま) (ama), 海人 (あまびと) (amabito), 海人 (あまんど) (amando) (obsolete)
• 釣 (つ)り人 (びと) (tsuribito) (overtones of someone who fishes as a hobby)

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