ヨーロッパ
Japanese
| 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 (/eu/ → /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 (yō), as well as アルコール (arukōru).
Doublet of エウローペー (Eurōpē, “Europa”).
Pronunciation
Proper noun
ヨーロッパ • (Yōroppa) ←エウロツパ (Eurotupa)?
See also
References
- ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
- ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN