昆布

Chinese

Pronunciation

Rime
Character	昆	布
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	魂 (55)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	古渾切	愽故切
Baxter	kwon	puH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kuən/	/puoH/
Pan Wuyun	/kuon/	/puoH/
Shao Rongfen	/kuən/	/poH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kwən/	/pɔH/
Li Rong	/kuən/	/poH/
Wang Li	/kuən/	/puH/
Bernard Karlgren	/kuən/	/puoH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gūn	bù
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gwan1	bou3

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kūnbù

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄣ ㄅㄨˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kwan¹ bou³
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): khun-pò͘

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kūnbù
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄣ ㄅㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kunbù
    • Wade–Giles: kʻun¹-pu⁴
    • Yale: kwūn-bù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuenbuh
    • Palladius: куньбу (kunʹbu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu̯ən⁵⁵ pu⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: kwan¹ bou³
    • Yale: kwān bou
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kwan¹ bou³
    • Guangdong Romanization: kuen¹ bou³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷʰɐn⁵⁵ pou̯³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khun-pò͘
    • Tâi-lô: khun-pòo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qunpox
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kʰun⁴⁴⁻²² pɔ²¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: kwon puH

Etymology 1

		phonetic	to declare; to announce; to spread to declare; to announce; to spread; to make known; spread; (cotton) cloth
trad. (昆布)		昆	布
simp. #(昆布)		昆	布
alternative forms		綸布／纶布

From earlier 綸布 (OC *kruːn paːs, “green ribbon + cloth”), due to the resemblance in appearance (Erya).

Noun

昆布

1. (often in traditional Chinese medicine) seaweed; kelp; laminara; ecklonia

Synonyms

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		海帶, 昆布
Northeastern Mandarin	Harbin	海帶
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	海帶
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	海帶
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	海帶, 海菜
	Wanrong	海帶
	Xi'an	海帶
	Xining	海帶
	Xuzhou	海帶
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	海帶
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	帶皮, 海帶
	Wuhan	海帶
	Guiyang	海帶
	Liuzhou	海帶
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	海帶
Cantonese	Guangzhou	海帶
	Hong Kong	昆布, 海帶
	Dongguan	海帶
Gan	Nanchang	海帶
	Lichuan	海帶
	Pingxiang	海帶
Hakka	Meixian	帶皮, 海帶
	Yudu	海帶
Huizhou	Jixi	海帶
Jin	Taiyuan	海帶
	Xinzhou	海帶
Northern Min	Jian'ou	海布
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	海帶
Southern Min	Haikou	海帶
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	海帶
Wu	Shanghai	海帶
	Shanghai (Chongming)	海帶
	Suzhou	海帶
	Danyang	海帶
	Hangzhou	海帶
	Ningbo	海帶
	Wenzhou	海帶
	Jinhua	海帶
Xiang	Loudi	海帶

Dialectal synonyms of 海帶 (“kelp; seaweed (Saccharina japonica)”) [map]

See also

• 海藻 (hǎizǎo)

Etymology 2

		phonetic
trad. (昆布)		昆	布
simp. #(昆布)		昆	布

Proper noun

昆布

1. Khumbu (a region of Nepal)

Synonyms

• 坤布

Japanese

昆(こん)布(ぶ) • (konbu) : kombu.

Etymology 1

First cited to a record in the Shoku Nihongi, written 715 CE.^[1]

Theories include:

• From Middle Chinese 昆布 (MC kwon puH, “seaweed, kelp”).^[1]
• From Ainu,^[1][2][3] possibly via Ainu コムブ (kombu, “a brown seaweed, Laminaria^[4]”),^[3][5] which may also be borrowed from Middle Chinese 昆布 (MC kwon puH, “seaweed, kelp”).

The early date of first citation, and the existence already in 715 of the kanji spelling 昆布, seems to make a Chinese derivation more likely. See the Wikipedia article about kombu for additional etymology details.

Cognates among the Ryukyuan languages include Kunigami 昆布 (kubū), Okinawan 昆布 (kūbu), Southern Amami Ōshima 昆布 (kubu), Miyako 昆布 (kubu), and Yaeyama 昆布 (kubu).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こんぶ [kóꜜǹbù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[6]
• IPA^(key): [kõ̞mbɯ̟]

Noun

Kanji in this term
昆	布
こん Grade: S	ふ > ぶ Grade: 5
on'yomi

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

コンブ

Wikipedia ^ja

昆(こん)布(ぶ) or 昆布(コンブ) • (konbu) 

1. kombu, kelp, tangle, laminara

   昆布(こんぶ)の熨斗(のし)

   konbu no noshi

   kombu noshi

Usage notes

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as コンブ.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こぶ [kóꜜbù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[6][7]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞bɯ̟]

Noun

Kanji in this term
昆	布
こ Grade: S	ふ > ぶ Grade: 5
on'yomi

昆(こ)布(ぶ) • (kobu) 

1. same as above

Derived terms

• 昆布締(こぶじ)め (kobujime)

See also

• 広布(ひろめ) (hirome)
• えびすめ (ebisume)

References

1. “昆布”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
2. “昆布”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
3. “コンブ／昆布／こんぶ”, in 語源由来辞典 (Gogen Yurai Jiten, “Etymology Derivation Dictionary”) (in Japanese), 2003–2024.
4. John Batchelor (1905) An Ainu-English-Japanese dictionary (including a grammar of the Ainu language)‎, Tokyo, London: Methodist Publishing House; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner Co., page 236
5. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
6. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
7. Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2020), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Eighth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN