# 昆布
## Chinese
### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): kūnbù
    (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄣ ㄅㄨˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): kwan$^1$ bou$^3$
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): khun-pò͘
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: kūnbù
*** Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄣ ㄅㄨˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: kunbù
*** Wade–Giles: kʻun$^1$-pu$^4$
*** Yale: kwūn-bù
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuenbuh
*** Palladius: куньбу (kunʹbu)
*** Sinological IPA : /kʰu̯ən⁵⁵ pu⁵¹/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: kwan$^1$ bou$^3$
*** Yale: kwān bou
*** Cantonese Pinyin: kwan$^1$ bou$^3$
*** Guangdong Romanization: kuen$^1$ bou$^3$
*** Sinological IPA : /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
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/ | /puo$^H$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /kuon/ | /puo$^H$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /kuən/ | /po$^H$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /kwən/ | /pɔ$^H$/ |
| Li Rong | /kuən/ | /po$^H$/ |
| Wang Li | /kuən/ | /pu$^H$/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /kuən/ | /puo$^H$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | gūn | bù |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | gwan$^1$ | bou$^3$ |

### Etymology 1

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

#### Noun

昆布
* (often in traditional Chinese medicine) seaweed; kelp; laminara; ecklonia

##### Synonyms

| Variety | Location | Words |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 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 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Wanrong | 海帶 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xi'an | 海帶 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xining | 海帶 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xuzhou | 海帶 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Yinchuan | 海帶 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Chengdu | 帶皮, 海帶 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Wuhan | 海帶 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Guiyang | 海帶 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Liuzhou | 海帶 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Nanjing | 海帶 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 海帶 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 昆布, 海帶 |
| Cantonese | Dongguan | 海帶 |
| Gan | Nanchang | 海帶 |
| Gan | Lichuan | 海帶 |
| Gan | Pingxiang | 海帶 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 帶皮, 海帶 |
| Hakka | Yudu | 海帶 |
| Huizhou | Jixi | 海帶 |
| Jin | Taiyuan | 海帶 |
| Jin | 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 |
| Wu | Shanghai (Chongming) | 海帶 |
| Wu | Suzhou | 海帶 |
| Wu | Danyang | 海帶 |
| Wu | Hangzhou | 海帶 |
| Wu | Ningbo | 海帶 |
| Wu | Wenzhou | 海帶 |
| Wu | Jinhua | 海帶 |
| Xiang | Loudi | 海帶 |

##### See also

* 海藻 (hǎizǎo)

### Etymology 2
#### Proper noun

昆布
* Khumbu (a region of Nepal)

##### Synonyms

* 坤布

## Japanese
### Etymology 1

First cited to a record in the Shoku Nihongi, written 715 CE.
Theories include:
* From Middle Chinese 昆布 (MC kwon puH, “seaweed, kelp”).
* From Ainu, possibly via Ainu コムブ (kombu, “a brown seaweed, Laminaria”), 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])
* IPA: [kõ̞mbɯ̟]

#### Noun

Kanji in this term :
| 昆 | 布 |
| こん Grade: S | ふ > ぶ Grade: 5 |
| on'yomi ||
昆(こん)布(ぶ) or 昆布(コンブ) • (konbu)
* kombu, kelp, tangle, laminara
    昆(こん)布(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])
* IPA: [ko̞bɯ̟]

#### Noun

Kanji in this term :
| 昆 | 布 |
| こ Grade: S | ふ > ぶ Grade: 5 |
| on'yomi ||
昆(こ)布(ぶ) • (kobu)
* 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 2 3 “昆布”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
* ↑ “昆布”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
* 1 2 “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.
* ↑ 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
* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2020), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Eighth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN