# 破瓜
## Chinese
### Etymology

The shape of the character 瓜 can be decomposed into two 八 (“eight”), thus “breaking 瓜” is used to refer to reaching the age of 8+8 (=16) for girls, and 8×8 (=64) for men. First attested in the 4th century.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): pòguā
    (Zhuyin): ㄆㄛˋ ㄍㄨㄚ
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: pòguā
*** Zhuyin: ㄆㄛˋ ㄍㄨㄚ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: pògua
*** Wade–Giles: pʻo$^4$-kua$^1$
*** Yale: pwò-gwā
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pohgua
*** Palladius: погуа (pogua)
*** Sinological IPA : /pʰu̯ɔ⁵¹ ku̯ä⁵⁵/
* Middle Chinese: phaH kwae
Rime :
| Character | 破 | 瓜 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 滂 (2) | 見 (28) |
| Final (韻) | 戈 (95) | 麻 (99) |
| Tone (調) | Departing (H) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Closed | Closed |
| Division (等) | I | II |
| Fanqie | 普過切 | 古華切 |
| Baxter | phaH | kwae |
| Reconstructions |||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /pʰuɑ$^H$/ | /kˠua/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /pʰuɑ$^H$/ | /kʷᵚa/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /pʰuɑ$^H$/ | /kua/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /pʰwa$^H$/ | /kwaɨ/ |
| Li Rong | /pʰuɑ$^H$/ | /kua/ |
| Wang Li | /pʰuɑ$^H$/ | /kwa/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /pʰuɑ$^H$/ | /kwa/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | pò | guā |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | po$^3$ | gwaa$^1$ |

### Verb

破瓜
* (literary, of a girl) to reach the age of 16; to come of age
    From: 1708, Kong Shangren, The Peach Blossom Fan, translated by Xu Yuanchong
    Qièshēn Lǐ Zhēnlì, zhǐ yīn hái'ér Xiāngjūn, nián jí pòguā, shūlóng wúrén, rìyè fàngxīnbùxià. [Pinyin]
    I am Mother Lee. My daughter Fragrant has come of age and I am worried day and night to find for her a life companion.
* (literary, euphemistic, of a girl) to lose one's virginity
* (literary, of a man, rare) to reach the age of 64

#### See also

* 破身 (“to have sexual intercourse for the first time”)
* 開瓜／开瓜 (“to take a woman's virginity”)

## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 破 | 瓜 |
| は Grade: 5 | か Jinmeiyō |
| on'yomi | kan'on |

### Etymology

Similar to the sense development of Chinese 破瓜 (pòguā), the shape of the character 瓜 (literally “gourd”) can be 破 (“broken”) or decomposed into two 八 (“eight”) characters, thus “breaking 瓜” is used to euphemistically refer to reaching the age of 8+8 (=16) for girls, and 8×8 (=64) for men.
The girls' age sense is cited to the late 1600s. The men's age sense is cited to the early 1700s. The sexual sense is cited to the late 1800s.

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) はか [háꜜkà] (Atamadaka – [1])
* IPA: [ha̠ka̠]

### Noun

破(は)瓜(か) • (haka)
* the age of 16 for a girl
* the age of 64 for a man
* (by extension from the age 16 sense) the breaking of the hymen through sexual intercourse
* (by extension from the age 16 sense) hebephrenia, disorganized schizophrenia: a type of schizophrenia with onset typically occurring during adolescence
    Synonyms: 破瓜病 (hakabyō), 破瓜型総合失調症 (haka-kei sōgō shitchō-shō)

#### Derived terms

* 破(は)瓜(か)期(き) (hakaki): adolescence, puberty
* 破(は)瓜(か)病(びょう) (hakabyō): hebephrenia

### References

* 1 2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* 1 2 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN