硫黄

See also: 硫黃

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 硫黄 – see 硫黃 (“sulfur; sulphur; S”). (This term is the simplified form of 硫黃).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Chemical element
S
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硫黄

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Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
硫	黄
いおう
Grade: S	Grade: 2
jukujikun

Alternative spellings
硫黃 (kyūjitai) 硫磺

/juawa/ → /juwau/ → /iwau/ → /iwɔː/ → /iwoː/ → /ioː/

Originally a compound of 湯 (yu, “warm or hot water”) +‎ 泡 (awa, “bubble”), from the way that volcanic hot springs would often be accompanied by bubbles of sulfur gas.^[1][2]

The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), from Chinese 硫黃／硫黄 (liúhuáng).

An alternative theory is that the character 硫 (“sulfur”) developed an on'yomi of yu instead of the usual goon of ru or kan'on of ryū, such that the reading is on'yomi.^[1] However, given that this particular sound shift is not found in other kanji readings, this derivation seems unlikely.

This is the most common reading for this term in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いおー [ìóó] (Heiban – [0])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [io̞ː]

Noun

硫黄(いおう) • (iō) ^{←いわう (iwau)?}

1. sulfur (element)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 硫黄(いおう)華(か) (iōka): flowers of sulfur
• 硫黄(いおう)山(やま) (iōyama): sulfur mine
• 硫黄(いおう)泉(せん) (iōsen): sulfur spring
• 硫黄(いおう)酸(さん)化(か)物(ぶつ) (iō sankabutsu): sulfur oxide
• 塩(えん)化(かい)硫黄(いおう) (enkai iō): sulfur chloride
• 三(さん)酸(さん)化(か)硫黄(いおう) (sansanka iō): sulfur trioxide
• 石(せっ)灰(かい)硫黄(いおう)合(ごう)剤(ざい) (sekkai iō gōzai): lime sulphur
• 二(に)酸(さん)化(か)硫黄(いおう) (nisanka iō): sulfur dioxide

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
硫	黄
ゆ Grade: S	おう Grade: 2
irregular

Alternative spellings
硫黃 (kyūjitai) 硫磺

/juawa/ → /juwau/ → /juwɔː/ → /juwoː/ → /juoː/

Other than the difference in phonetic shifts, the derivation is the same as for iō above.

This reading is rare, and possibly archaic.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ゆおー [yùóó] (Heiban – [0])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [jɯ̟o̞ː]

Noun

硫(ゆ)黄(おう) • (yuō) ^{←ゆわう (yuwau)?}

1. (rare, possibly archaic) sulfur (element)

References

1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN