「カバ」の訳語考
1989 年 1990 巻 22 号 p. 119-136
詳細
1989 年 1990 巻 22 号 p. 119-136
When I found that the equivalent to hippopotamus was Kawamuma (河馬) in AN ENGLISH-JAPANESE DICTIONARY ('薩摩辞書') in 1869, I wanted to know when and how Kawamuma changed into Kaba (河馬).
In Dutch-Japanese dictionaries compiled in the Edo era, I couldn't find the entry word of 'nijlpaard' which is the Dutch equivalent to hippopotamus.
A Chinese word河馬first appeared in A POCKET DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH AND JAPANESE LANGUAGE ('英和対訳袖珍辞書') in 1862. How was the translation of河馬made?
After presenting a report at the regular monthly meeting in May, 1988, the writer found'地球説略'which was put guiding marks beside Chinese characters by Gempo Mitsukuri (箕作阮甫).In this book, hippopotamus appeared as海馬.And by comparing'海國圖志'which was put guiding marks by Gempo Mitsukuri, '海國圖志'in the original in 60 vols. and the enlarged edition of which in 100 vols., the writer deduces that Gempo Mitsukuri played an important role in the introduction of the Chinese word河馬.
According to the writer's research, '改正増補英語箋'in 1872 was the oldest book in which hippopotamus appeared as河馬with small kana printed alongside the Chinese characters.
