女房詞

Japanese

Kanji in this term
女	房	詞
にょう Grade: 1	ぼう Grade: S	ことば Grade: 6
kan’yōon	goon	kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
女房言葉

Etymology

Compound of 女房 (nyōbō, “lady in waiting”) +‎ 言葉 (kotoba, “word; language”)

Both spellings, 女房詞 and 女房言葉, are in use. The 女房詞 spelling appears to be more common, and is listed as the main form in dictionaries.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にょーぼーこ​とば [nyòóbóó kóꜜtòbà] (Nakadaka – [5])
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟o̞ːbo̞ː ko̞to̞ba̠]

Noun

女(にょう)房(ぼう)詞(ことば) • (nyōbō kotoba) ^{←にようばうことば (nyoubaukotoba)?}

1. a cant or secret language of ladies-in-waiting in the imperial court, arising during the Muromachi period and later spreading to the general population
2. a word originally belonging to this cant

   「おしゃもじ」は元(もと)元(もと)「杓(しゃく)子(し)」の女(にょう)房(ぼう)詞(ことば)でした。

   “O-shamoji” wa motomoto “shakushi” no nyōbō kotoba deshita.

   "O-shamoji" was originally the woman's word for "shakushi" (rice scoop).