蕎麦

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: 荞麦 and 蕎麥

Japanese[edit]

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
蕎麦 (soba)

Etymology[edit]

Kanji in this term
そば
Jinmeiyō Grade: 2
jukujikun
Alternative spelling
蕎麥 (kyūjitai)

Not attested until the late 1400s,[1] as a shortening of older 蕎麦 (soba mugi, literally soba grain).[1][2][3]

Two theories exist regarding the ultimate derivation of the soba element:

  • Samuel Martin reconstructs soba as Proto-Japonic *sonpa and derives it as a compound of *so (unknown) +‎ *pa (feather). The *pa changes to *nba as an instance of rendaku (連濁).[4]
  • From (soba, an edge, a corner),[5] in reference to the seed of the plant being a triangular oval shape with protruding corners.[6]

Considering the late appearance of soba in isolation with the meaning of buckwheat, and the attested earlier senses of side; corner, edge, Martin's reconstruction seems unlikely.

The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), from (buckwheat) +‎ (wheat).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

蕎麦(そば) or 蕎麦(そばむぎ) or 蕎麦(そまむぎ) (soba or sobamugi or somamugi

  1. buckwheat
    蕎麦(そば)(りょう)(おお)
    soba no ryō ga ōi
    There are a lot of buckwheats
  2. a variety of Japanese noodle made from buckwheat
    (わたし)はあなたに蕎麦(そば)()べさせたいと(おも)っています。
    Watashi wa anata ni soba o tabesasetai to omotteimasu.
    I'm thinking about letting you try some soba noodles.

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 蕎麦”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, Nihon Kokugo Daijiten)[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. ^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  3. 3.0 3.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. ^ Martin, Samuel E. (1987) The Japanese Language Through Time, New Haven, London: Yale University Press, →ISBN
  5. ^ ”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, Nihon Kokugo Daijiten)[2] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  6. ^ ソバ/蕎麦/そば - Gogen Yurai Jiten (in Japanese)
  7. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  8. ^ 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), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN