Chinese

Noun

蜀黍

1. sorghum

Synonyms

• 高粱 (gāoliáng)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Compound of 唐 ‎(morokoshi, “China in general; (by extension) foreign”) +‎ 黍 ‎(kibi, “millet”).

The spelling is from Chinese.^[1] See shokusho below.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) もろこしき​び [mòrókóshí kíꜜbì] (Nakadaka - [5])
• IPA^(key): [mo̞ɺ̠o̞ko̞ɕi kʲibi]

Alternative forms

• 唐黍

Noun

蜀黍 ‎(hiragana もろこしきび, romaji morokoshi kibi)

1. sorghum

Usage notes

The longer term morokoshi kibi has been largely replaced by the shorter form morokoshi below.

Synonyms

• 蜀黍 (もろこし) ‎(morokoshi), 唐黍 (もろこし) ‎(morokoshi)
• 唐黍 (とうきび) ‎(tōkibi)
• 高黍 (たかきび) ‎(takakibi)

Etymology 2

蜀黍 (morokoshi kibi, morokoshi, shokusho): sorghum.

Abbreviation of morokoshi kibi above, with the abbreviated reading then re-applied to the entire kanji compound.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) もろこし [mòrókóshí] (Heiban - [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [mo̞ɺ̠o̞ko̞ɕi]

Alternative forms

• 唐黍

Noun

蜀黍 ‎(hiragana もろこし, romaji morokoshi)

1. sorghum
2. maize, corn (especially corn on the cob)

Synonyms

• (sorghum): 蜀黍 (もろこし) ‎(morokoshi), 唐黍 (もろこし) ‎(morokoshi), 唐黍 (とうきび) ‎(tōkibi), 高黍 (たかきび) ‎(takakibi)
• (maize): 玉蜀黍 (とうもろこし) ‎(tōmorokoshi), 唐黍 (とうきび) ‎(tōkibi)

Usage notes

The term 玉蜀黍 ‎(tōmorokoshi) is more common for the maize sense.

Etymology 3

From Middle Chinese compound 蜀黍 ‎(dzyowk syo^X, literally “Shu (old place name) + millet”). The ancient state of Shu is roughly analogous to modern Sichuan province.

This reading appears to be rare, and may be obsolete.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞kɯᵝɕo̞]

Noun

蜀黍 ‎(hiragana しょくしょ, romaji shokusho)

1. (rare, possibly obsolete) sorghum

References

1. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9