露西亜

Japanese

Kanji in this term
露	西	亜
ろ Grade: S	し Grade: 2	あ Grade: S
Irregular

Etymology

This spelling is ateji (当て字), adopted in 1877 after diplomatic pressure from Russia to change from the previous 魯西亜 spelling, out of concern that the initial 魯 (ro) character expressed a sense of foolish. However, the 露 (ro) character was chosen for its sense of dew, from the political metaphor that the morning dew will disappear as the sun rises, wherein "sun" refers to Japan.[1]

The use of 西亜 for the latter portion is likely influenced by Chinese phonetics, and historical use of these characters to spell out the -siya portion of Rossiya in sources such as a bible translated into Chinese in 1864.

Pronunciation

(Irregular reading)
- (Tokyo) ロシア [róꜜshìà] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
- IPA^(key): [ɾo̞ɕia̠]

Proper noun

露西亜 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 露西亞, katakana ロシア, rōmaji Roshia)

Dated spelling of ロシア (“Russia”).

Derived terms

露 (ろ) (Ro, abbreviation)

References

渡辺雅司 (Masaji Watanabe) (2003), ユーラシア研究所ブックレット編集委員会 (Yūrashia Kenkyūjo Bukkuretto Henshū Iinkai, Institute of Eurasian Studies, Booklet Editing Committee), editor, 明治日本とロシアの影 [Meiji Japan and the Shadow of Russia] (in Japanese), 東洋書店 (Tōyō Shoten), ISBN 978-4885954450, pages 4-5
1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0

[1] 渡辺雅司 (Masaji Watanabe) (2003), ユーラシア研究所ブックレット編集委員会 (Yūrashia Kenkyūjo Bukkuretto Henshū Iinkai, Institute of Eurasian Studies, Booklet Editing Committee), editor, 明治日本とロシアの影 [Meiji Japan and the Shadow of Russia] (in Japanese), 東洋書店 (Tōyō Shoten), ISBN 978-4885954450, pages 4-5

[SMK5-2] 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0