Chinese

Japanese

Etymology 1

黄砂: Kyōto, spring 2010, with the skies full of yellow sand (Asian Dust).

The Taklamakan Desert, source of the Asian Dust.

From Middle Chinese compound 黃砂 ‎(hwang *shra, “yellow sand”). Compare modern simplified Chinese 黄砂.

Kan'on reading of both characters, suggesting a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• こ​うさ (Atamadaka)^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːsa̠]

Alternative forms

• 黄沙

Noun

黄砂 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 黃砂, hiragana こうさ, romaji kōsa, historical hiragana くわうさ)

1. yellow sand
2. loess
3. (figurative) a desert
4. Asian Dust
5. (figurative) a gaol (UK), jail (US), prison

Synonyms

• (desert): 砂漠 (さばく, ​sabaku)
• (prison, jail, gaol): 牢獄 (ろうごく, ​rōgoku)

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese. Goon reading of first character, kan'on reading of second, suggesting an alteration in Japan after the initial borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [o̞ːsa̠]

Noun

黄砂 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 黃砂, hiragana おうさ, romaji ōsa, historical hiragana わうさ) (rare)

1. (see kōsa reading above)

References

1. ↑ 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