ヨーロッパ

Japanese
World map showing the location of Europe (continent).

Alternative forms

Etymology

/europpa/ [jeuɺoppa] → /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.

Doublet of エウローペー (Eurōpē, “Europa”).

Pronunciation

Proper noun

ヨーロッパ (rōmaji Yōroppa, historical katakana エウロツパ)

  1. Europe (continent)
    Synonym: 欧州 (Ōshū)

See also

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. 1998, 広辞苑 (Kōjien), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  4. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  6. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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