波布

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

波布

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Trimeresurus flavoviridis

波布 (habu): the habu pit viper.

Kanji in this term
波	布
は Grade: 3	ふ > ぶ Grade: 5
on'yomi

Alternative forms

飯匙倩, ハブ

Etymology

Borrowed from Okinawan 蛇(はぶ) (habu, “snake”). Likely cognate with Japanese 蛇(へび) (hebi, “snake”).

Possibly an alteration from 反鼻 (hanbi), an obsolete term for a kind of Chinese medicine made from the skin and/or organs of certain venomous snakes.
More likely, may be an alteration from 蛇(へび) (hebi, “snake”). Some dialects distinguish between non-poisonous hebi and poisonous habi.
Possibly also related to, or influenced by, Old Japanese-derived verb 食(は)む (hamu, “to bite”). An /m/ - /b/ alternation can be found in some Japanese words, so a shift from hamu to habu is a reasonable possibility. The standard modern Japanese word hebi for “snake” may similarly be derived from, or have been influenced by, hamu “to bite”.

The kanji spelling 波布 is an example of ateji, with the characters chosen purely for their phonetic values.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) はぶ [háꜜbù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [ha̠bɯ̟]

Noun

波(は)布(ぶ) or 波布(ハブ) • (habu)

a venomous pit viper of species Protobothrops flavoviridis (syn. Trimeresurus flavoviridis), native to Okinawa

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

本波布(ほんはぶ) (honhabu): the “real” or “true” habu
ハブ属(ぞく) (habuzoku): the genus Protobothrops
波布草(はぶそう) (habusō): Senna occidentalis, also called coffee senna or coffeeweed, a wide-ranging tropical plant with seeds sometimes used for a beverage similar to coffee
波布茶(はぶちゃ) (habucha): a beverage made by roasting senna seeds and steeping in water

Descendants

English: habu

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ 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

Miyako

Kanji in this term
波	布
Grade: 3	Grade: 5

Alternative spelling
蛇

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 蛇(へび) (hebi, “snake”).

Noun

波布(ぱゔ) (pav)

snake, viper, Okinawan habu

Okinawan

Kanji in this term
波	布
Grade: 3	Grade: 5

Alternative spelling
蛇

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 蛇(へび) (hebi, “snake”).

Noun

波布(はぶ) (habu)

snake, viper, Okinawan habu

[DJR-1] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-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

[1]

[2]