源五郎鮒

Japanese

Kanji in this term
源 五 郎 鮒
ゲンゴロウブナ

Etymology

Compound of 源五郎 (Gengorō, “male given name”) +‎ 鮒 (funa, “crucian carp”). The funa changes to buna due to rendaku (連濁).

According to one theory, the Gengorō portion was the name of a fisherman who fished in Lake Biwa, and every morning, presented the best of his catch of funa to the local lord. In another theory, this term arose from a tale about a Lake Biwa fisherman named Gengorō, who fell in love with a noblewoman and arranged a secret meeting with her by hiding a note inside a gengorōbuna fish that he had caught and presented to her.

Like many biology terms, this word is often spelled in katakana, as ゲンゴロウブナ.

Pronunciation

  • Mixed:
  • IPA: [gẽ̞ɴgo̞ɺ̠o̞ːbɯᵝna̠], [ŋẽ̞ɴŋo̞ɺ̠o̞ːbɯᵝna̠]

Noun

源五郎鮒 (hiragana げんごろうぶな, katakana ゲンゴロウブナ, romaji gengorōbuna)

  1. Carassius cuvieri: the Japanese crucian carp or white carp, a type of 鮒 (funa, “crucian carp”), an edible freshwater ray-finned fish related to carp and goldfish and endemic to Lake Biwa in Japan

External links

↑Jump back a section
Last modified on 7 February 2013, at 22:11