Chinese

Noun

薔薇

1. (botany) multiflora rose

Descendants

See also

• 玫瑰 (méigui)

Japanese

Etymology 1

From 茨 ‎(ibara, “bramble, briar”), itself an alteration from earlier reading ubara of the same meaning. The reading mubara appears in Heian period sources, but ubara is older.

Alternative forms

• 荊棘
• バラ

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) ばら [bàrá] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ba̠ɾ̠a̠]

Noun

薔薇 ‎(hiragana ばら, katakana バラ, romaji bara)

1. any shrub with thorns: a bramble, a briar
2. a thorny flower of the genus Rosa: a rose

Derived terms

• 薔薇園 (ばらえん) ‎(baraen)

Etymology 2

/syaubi/ → /syoːbi/ [ɕoːbi]. From Chinese 薔薇.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) しょ​うび [shóꜜòbì] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːbi]

Noun

薔薇 ‎(hiragana しょうび, romaji shōbi, historical hiragana しやうび)

1. a thorny flower of the genus Rosa: a rose

Etymology 3

/saubi/ → /soːbi/ [soːbi]. From alteration of shōbi reading.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• (Tokyo) そ​うび [sóꜜòbì] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [so̞ːbi]

Noun

薔薇 ‎(hiragana そうび, romaji sōbi, historical hiragana さうび)

1. a thorny flower of the genus Rosa: a rose

References

1. 1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3