硫黄

硫黄

See also: 硫黃

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 硫黄 – see 硫黃 (“sulfur; sulphur; S”). (This term, 硫黄, is the simplified form of 硫黃.)

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

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Japanese

Chemical element
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	Next: 塩 (えん)素 (そ) (enso) (Cl)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
硫	黄
い Grade: S	おう Grade: 2
Irregular

/juawa/ → /juwau/ → /iwau/ → /iwɔː/ → /iwoː/ → /ioː/

Originally a compound of 湯 (yu, “warm or hot water”) +‎ 泡 (awa, “bubble”), from the way that volcanic hot springs would often be accompanied by bubbles of sulfur gas.[1][2]

The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), from Chinese 硫黃.

An alternative theory is that the character 硫 (“sulfur”) developed an on'yomi of yu instead of the usual goon of ru or kan'on of ryū, such that the reading is on'yomi.[1] However, given that this particular sound shift is not found in other kanji readings, this derivation seems unlikely.

This is the most common reading for this term in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
  • (Tokyo) いおー [ìóó] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [io̞ː]

Noun

硫黄 (hiragana いおう, rōmaji iō, historical hiragana いわう)

1. sulfur (element)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 硫 (い)黄 (おう)華 (か) (iōka): flowers of sulfur
• 硫黄山 (いおうやま) (iōyama): sulfur mine
• 硫 (い)黄 (おう)泉 (せん) (iōsen): sulfur spring
• 硫黄酸化物 (いおうさんかぶつ) (iō sankabutsu): sulfur oxide
• 塩 (えん)化 (か)硫 (いい)黄 (おう) (enkai iō): sulfur chloride
• 三 (さん)酸 (さん)化 (か)硫 (い)黄 (おう) (sansanka iō): sulfur trioxide
• 石灰硫黄合剤 (せっかいいおうごうざい) (sekkai iō gōzai): lime sulphur
• 二 (に)酸 (さん)化 (か)硫 (い)黄 (おう) (nisanka iō): sulfur dioxide

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
硫	黄
ゆ Grade: S	おう Grade: 2
Irregular

/juawa/ → /juwau/ → /juwɔː/ → /juwoː/ → /juoː/

Other than the difference in phonetic shifts, the derivation is the same as for iō above.

This reading is rare, and possibly archaic.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
  • (Tokyo) ゆおー [yùóó] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [jɯ̟ᵝo̞ː]

Noun

硫黄 (hiragana ゆおう, rōmaji yuō, historical hiragana ゆわう)

1. (rare, possibly archaic) sulfur (element)

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. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN