茗荷

Japanese

茗荷 (myōga, mega): a myoga flower bud.

茗荷 (myōga): one of the various designs of the myoga family crest.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
茗	荷
みょう Hyōgaiji	が Grade: 3
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
蘘荷 (rare)

/meɡa/ → /meuɡa/ → /mjoːɡa/

From earlier mega (see below). The kanji spelling is an example of phonetic ateji.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) みょーが [myòógá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [mʲo̞ːɡa̠]

Noun

茗(みょう)荷(が) or 茗荷(ミョウガ) • (myōga) ^{←めうが (meuga)?}

1. myoga or Japanese ginger (Zingiber mioga), of which only the shoots and flower buds are used in cooking
2. a dimwit, an idiot, a stupid person (from a folk belief that excess consumption of myoga causes forgetfulness)
3. a kind of 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”)

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 ミョウガ.

Derived terms

• 茗荷(みょうが)の子(こ) (myōga no ko): a myoga flower; a loss when gambling
• 茗荷貝(みょうががい) (myōgagai): a goose barnacle of family Pollicipedidae

 

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
茗	荷
め Hyōgaiji	が Grade: 3
irregular

Alternative spelling
蘘荷 (rare)

From Old Japanese [Term?]. Some sources mention that this might be a compound of 芽 (me, “sprout”) + 香 (ka, “fragrant”). However, the semantics are backwards compared to most other Japanese compounds. In addition, this term appears in writings of the Nara period with the spellings 女我 and 売我. The me syllable here is spelled phonetically with the so-called Type-A or 甲類 (kōrui) reading of e₁, but 芽 in Old Japanese had the Type-B or 乙類 (otsurui) reading of e₂. These two different e phonetic values were distinct in Old Japanese, indicating that 芽 (me, “sprout”) + 香 (ka, “fragrant”) is not the actual derivation.

(For more details on Old Japanese spellings and phonetic values, see Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )

This reading is obsolete in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [me̞ɡa̠]

Noun

茗(め)荷(が) • (mega) 

1. (obsolete) myoga or Japanese ginger (Zingiber mioga)