Japanese

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マテガイ: Gould's razor shell
 
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Etymology

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Alternative spellings
蟶貝
馬刀貝
馬蛤貝

Uncertain. Appears to be a compound of 真手 (mate, both hands together) +‎ (kai, clam, shell), presumably from the shape of the shell. The kai changes to gai as an instance of rendaku (連濁). The kanji spellings of mate are ateji.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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マテガイ or まてがい (mategaiまてがひ (mategafi)?

  1. a razor clam, more specifically Gould's razor shell: Solen strictus.

Usage notes

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As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary).

Synonyms

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References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ 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), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN