鮟鱇

Various theories of the origin of あんこう (ankō) exist, such as from あんぐり (anguri) or あぐり (aguri, “agape, with one's mouth wide open”),^[1]^[2] perhaps related to Korean 아귀 (agwi, “anglerfish”). The kanji spelling is an Edo-period coinage, found for example in the 1709 biology text 大和本草 (Yamato Honzō, “Japanese Biology”), formed from earlier ateji (当て字) 安康 (ankō) by adding the 魚／鱼 (yú, “fish”) radical to each of the ateji characters. The current 鮟鱇 form has replaced the earlier 安康 form.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) あんこー [áꜜǹkòò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3]^[4]^[5]
(Tokyo) あんこー [àńkóꜜò] (Nakadaka – [3])^[5]
IPA^(key): [ã̠ŋko̞ː]

Noun

鮟(あん)鱇(こう) or 鮟鱇(アンコウ) • (ankō) ^{←あんかう (ankau)^?}

an anglerfish, a monkfish, a goosefish

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 アンコウ.

References

^ フリーランス雑学ライダーズ編『あて字のおもしろ雑学』 p.47 1988年永岡書店
^ アンコウ: 語源, Japanese Wikipedia
^ 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
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
鮟	鱇

Noun

鮟鱇 • (an'gang) (hangeul 안강)

Hanja form^? of 안강 (“anglerfish; monkfish”).

Synonyms

아귀 (agwi)

[1] フリーランス雑学ライダーズ編『あて字のおもしろ雑学』 p.47 1988年永岡書店

[2] アンコウ: 語源, Japanese Wikipedia

[NHK-3] 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

[DJR-4] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[SMK5-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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