たすけぶね

Japanese

Alternative spellings
助け船 助船 (dated) 助け舟

Etymology

From 助(たす)け (tasuke, “連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 助(たす)ける (tasukeru).”) + 船(ふね) (fune). The fune changes to bune as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) たすけぶ​ね [tàsúkébúꜜnè] (Nakadaka – [4])
• (Tokyo) たすけ​ぶね [tàsúkéꜜbùnè] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ta̠sɨᵝke̞bɯ̟ᵝne̞]

Noun

たすけぶね • (tasukebune) ^{←たすけぶね (tasukebune)?}

1. lifeboat
2. (figurative) aid to someone who is in a pinch