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Definition 2024

三味線

三味線

Chinese

three; 3 taste
 
thread; string; wire; line
trad. (三味線) 三 味 線
simp. (三味线) 三 味 线

Noun

三味線

  1. shamisen

See also

Japanese

三味線 (shamisen, samisen): a street performer playing a shamisen.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
三 味 線
さ > しゃ
Grade: 1 		み
Grade: 3 		せん
Grade: 2
Irregular

Originally from Okinawan 蛇皮線 ‎(jabisen, literally “snakeskin strings”), so named for the way the soundbox is traditionally covered in snakeskin. The traditional jabisen instrument was imported into the Sakai area of Osaka during the Eiroku era (1558-1570), then later modified by biwa luthiers to have the square-shaped shamisen soundbox of today.[1][2]

The reading jabisen shifted over time to jamisen (蛇味線), replacing the 皮 ‎(bi, “skin, leather”) character with 味 ‎(mi) for phonetic reasons (i.e. as ateji (当て字)). Then jabisen changed to shamisen, replacing the 蛇 ‎(ja, “snake”) character with 三 ‎(sha, usually read san, “three”) for semantic reasons (i.e. as jukujikun (熟字訓)). The sha reading for the 三 character is irregular.

Pronunciation

Noun

三味線 ‎(hiragana しゃみせん, romaji shamisen)

  1. (music) a shamisen: a Japanese stringed instrument played by plucking, vaguely similar to a banjo
Synonyms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
三 味 線
さん > さ
Grade: 1 		み
Grade: 3 		せん
Grade: 2

Sound shift from shamisen above, possibly influenced by the standard san reading of the initial 三 character.

This reading appears to be less common than shamisen.[1][2]

Pronunciation

Noun

三味線 ‎(hiragana さみせん, romaji samisen) (uncommon)

  1. (music) a shamisen: a Japanese stringed instrument played by plucking, vaguely similar to a banjo

References

  1. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1 2 3 4 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  3. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3
  4. 1 2 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0

Pronunciation

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