Japanese edit

Etymology 1 edit

Alternative spellings
唐土

⟨mo2ro2 ko1si⟩⟨moro2ko1si⟩ → */morəkosi//morokoɕi/

From Old Japanese, first attested in the Man'yōshū (c. 759 CE).

Originally a compound of (moro-, prefix meaning "many") +‎ (koshi), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, stem or continuative form) of 越す (kosu, to cross (over)),[1] by reinterpretation of kun-reading (koshi) from on-reading of (Etsu).[2] The compound refers to the 百越 (Bǎiyuè, Baiyue, literally Hundred Yue),[3] a collective name for various ethnic groups which inhabited Southern China.

The kanji spellings 唐土 and are jukujikun (熟字訓), literally meaning “Tang land” and “Tang” respectively.

Pronunciation edit

Proper noun edit

もろこし (Morokoshi

  1. (archaic) China
    Synonyms: 唐土 (Tōdo), (), (Kara), (modern) 中国 (Chūgoku)

Noun edit

もろこし (morokoshi

  1. (archaic) any objects imported from China
Derived terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Alternative spellings
蜀黍
唐黍
 
Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
もろこし (morokoshi, sorghum)
 
もろこし (morokoshi, maize)

Clipping of もろこしきび (morokoshi kibi), with the shortened reading then re-applied to the entire original kanji compounds 唐黍 and 蜀黍.[5]

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

もろこし or モロコシ (morokoshi

  1. sorghum
    Synonyms: 唐黍 (tōkibi), 高黍 (takakibi), 蜀黍 (shokusho)
  2. maize, corn (especially corn on the cob)
    Synonyms: 玉蜀黍 (tōmorokoshi), 唐黍 (tōkibi)
Usage notes edit

The term 玉蜀黍 (tōmorokoshi) is more common for the maize sense.

Derived terms edit

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. ^ 唐土・唐”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, Nihon Kokugo Daijiten)[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  4. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
  5. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN