天草
Chinese edit
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 edit
Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 天草 (Amakusa).
Pronunciation edit
Proper noun edit
天草
Japanese edit
Etymology 1 edit
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 edit
Proper noun edit
Etymology 2 edit
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 edit
Noun edit
Usage notes edit
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 edit
References edit
Further reading edit
- Etymology at Nihonjiten (in Japanese)