無慙

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
無	慙
む Grade: 4	ざん Hyōgai
kan'on

Alternative spellings
無慙 無慚 無惨 無残

Compound of Sino-Japanese elements 無 (mu, “not”) +‎ 慙 (zan, “shame; feeling shame”).

This kanji first appears in the Ōjōyōshū (984-985), but the first attestation in phonographic spelling is from The Tale of Genji (1001-1014), as むさん.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) むざん [múꜜzàǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟zã̠ɴ]

• (Kyoto) むざん [múzán] (Kōki – [0])

• Historical evolution of the Kyoto pitch accent

• (the Edo period) HLL

※ H for high and flat syllables (◌́), L for low and flat syllables (◌̀), F for high-to-low syllables (◌̂), R for low-to-high syllables (◌̌).
※ References:

Adverb

無(む)慙(ざん) • (muzan) 

1. [from the Heian period] (Buddhism) feeling shameless after committing a sin
2. [from 1276] cruel; pathetic
3. [from 1223] pitiful; pathetic

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
無	慙
む Grade: 4	ぞう Hyōgai
kan'on	irregular

Irregular sound shift from 無慙 (muzan).

Adverb

無(む)慙(ぞう) • (muzō) ^{←むざう (muzau)?}

1. [from 1221] (Buddhism, obsolete) feeling shameless after committing a sin
2. [from 1221] (obsolete) cruel; pathetic
3. [from 1221] (obsolete or dialect, Tōhoku, Kyūshū) pitiful; pathetic
4. [from 1775] (dialect, Kyūshū) cute
   • 1775, Butsurui Shōko, volume 5, text here

     かはいらしいと云詞のかはりに下総又信濃にて・つぼいと云［『大江山の謡』にうち見にはをそろしげなれとなれてつぼいは山ぶしとあり］越後及奥羽にて・めごいと云津軽にて・いずいと云武州片田舎にて・むぢこいと云也上総房州又四国にて・むごいと云上野にて・いげちないと云肥前及薩摩にて・むざうと云是等は皆かはゆひといふ事也［．．．］

     The following is a list of various words for "cute" (kawairashii) in Japanese dialects. In the Shimousa and Shinano areas; it is called tsuboi (In the "Ōyenoyama Songs", being tsuboi when you are "being fearful" is a mountain climber); in areas such as Echigo and Ōfu, it is called megoi; in the Tsugaru area, it is called izui; in the Bushū rural areas it is called mujikoi; in the Bōshū, Kazusa area and the Shikoku areas, it is called mugoi; in the Ueno area, it is called igechinai; in areas such as Hizen and Satsuma, it is called muzō; finally, it is called kawayui in all of the other areas. [...]