ヨーロッパ

Japanese
World map showing the location of Europe (continent).
Alternative spelling
欧羅巴 (obsolete)

Etymology

/europpa/ [jeuɾoppa] → /joːroppa/

From Portuguese Europa.[1][2][3][4][5]

Some references[3] source this from Dutch Europa; however, Dutch phonology makes this less likely, as the ⟨eu⟩ vowel combination has apparently been pronounced as the monophthongs /œː/ or /øː/ since the time of Middle Dutch. Meanwhile, in Portuguese, the ⟨eu⟩ vowel combination has been pronounced as the diphthong /ew/, a closer match for the borrowed Japanese pronunciation.

Although this term is a 外来語 (gairaigo, “word of non-native or non-Middle Chinese origin”), it was borrowed early enough to be subject to the sound change from /eu/ to /joː/ during Late Middle Japanese. Compare similar developments in English (/ɛu̯/ → /juː/; /jʊ/, /jɔː/, /jɜː/ before /r/) during the Great Vowel Shift, which yields the modern English pronunciation of Europe.

Alternatively, it is merely a historical kana orthography-induced spelling pronunciation; compare 要(えう) (yō), as well as アルコール (arukōru).

Doublet of エウローペー (Eurōpē, “Europa”).

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) ヨーロ​ッパ [yòóróꜜppà] (Nakadaka – [3])[6][5]
  • IPA(key): [jo̞ːɾo̞p̚pa̠]

Proper noun

ヨーロッパ • (Yōroppa) ←エウロツパ (eurotupa)?

  1. Europe (continent)
    Synonym: 欧州 (Ōshū)

See also

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  4. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. 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
  6. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.