タバコ

Japanese

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Portuguese tabaco

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) バコ [tàbákó] (Heiban – [0])
  • IPA(key): [ta̠ba̠ko̞]

Noun

タバコ (hiragana たばこ, rōmaji tabako)

  1. tobacco
    Synonyms: 思い草 (omoigusa), 忘れ草 (wasuregusa)
  2. Short for 紙巻きタバコ (kamimaki tabako, cigarette).
    • 2008 April 9, Sorachi, Hideaki, “だい二百二くん タバコは一はこに一、二ほんふんみたいなにおいのするやつはいっている [Lesson 202: Only One or Two Cigarettes Left in a Whole Box Would Smell Like Horsecrap]”, in ぎんたま [Silver Soul], volume 23 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:
       (だま)らんかデルデ‼タバコというのは ()うために (そん) (ざい)するのだ  ()えないタバコなどタバコではない‼
      Damaran ka Derude‼ Tabako to iu no wa sū tame ni sonzai suru no da Suenai tabako nado tabako de wa nai‼
      Quiet, Delde‼ A cigarette exists so that it can be smoked. An unsmoked cigarette is not a cigarette‼

Usage notes

  • Unusually for gairaigo (non-Middle Chinese borrowings), tabako is often written in hiragana. This is particularly seen on convenience store signs, indicating that cigarettes are for sale. This usage (hiragana rather than katakana) is attributed to this being an old borrowing, dating to the nanban trade period (16th & 17th century), before the convention of writing gairaigo as katakana had developed.

Derived terms

References

  • Tabako”, Bathrobe’s Chinese, Japanese & Vietnamese Writing Systems
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