Chinese

Noun

小刀

1. short sword
2. pocketknife; penknife

Japanese

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese compound 小刀 ‎(sjew^X taw, literally “small + blade”). Compare modern Mandarin reading xiǎodāo, Cantonese siu² dou¹, Min Nan sió-to.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) しょうとう [shòótóó] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːto̞ː]

Noun

小刀 ‎(hiragana しょうとう, romaji shōtō, historical hiragana せうたう)

1. small knife, short sword

Etymology 2

Compound of 小 ‎(ko, “small, little”) +‎ 刀 ‎(katana, “sword, blade”).^[3][1][2]The katana changes to gatana as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) こがた​な [kògátáꜜnà] (Nakadaka - [3])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) こが​たな [kògáꜜtànà] (Nakadaka - [2])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞ɡ̃a̠tã̠na̠]

Noun

小刀 ‎(hiragana こがたな, romaji kogatana)

1. small knife, short sword

Usage notes

• The kogatana reading is more common than shōtō.

See also

• 大刀 (たち) ‎(tachi), 太刀 (たち) ‎(tachi)

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Compound of 小さ ‎(chīsa, “small”, the stem of adjective 小さい chīsai) +‎ 刀 ‎(katana, “sword, blade”). The katana changes to gatana as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) ちいさが​たな [chìíságáꜜtànà] (Nakadaka - [4])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [t͡ɕiːsa̠ɡ̃a̠tã̠na̠]

Alternative forms

• 小さ刀

Noun

小刀 ‎(hiragana ちいさがたな, romaji chīsagatana)

1. a specific kind of short sword without a hilt guard

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 4 5 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0
3. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan