団子

Etymology

This kind of dumpling confection appears in the historical record as 団喜 (danki) at least as early as the mid-1000s in the Heian period, possibly imported from China by envoys returning from visits to China during the Tang Dynasty. In the late-1200s, the term appears in the 厨事類記 (Chūjiruiki, Japan's oldest cookbook, completed around 1295) with the modern spelling 団子, but with a consistent Chinese-derived on'yomi reading of dansu. That reading then shifted to dango during the Muromachi period, adopting the native Japanese reading of ko for the second character, undergoing regular rendaku to become go.

Pronunciation

• Jūbakoyomi
  • (Tokyo) だんご [dàńgó] (Heiban – [0])^[1][2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [dã̠ŋɡo̞]

Noun

団子 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 團子, hiragana だんご, rōmaji dango)

1. a dango (round sticky dumpling made from flour)
   • 2011 February 9, Sorachi, Hideaki, “第だい三百三十四訓くん　銭せん湯とうでは身みも心こころも丸まる裸はだか [Lesson 334: Our Bodies and Souls Are All Naked in the Public Baths]”, in 銀ぎん魂たま [Silver Soul], volume 38 (fiction, in Japanese), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:

     もう限 (げん)界 (かい)だ‼チ○コも寒 (さむ)さで縮 (ちぢ)んでただの団 (だん)子 (ご)三 (さん)兄 (きょう)弟 (だい)みたいになってんぞ‼

     Mō genkai da‼ Chi○ko mo samusa de chijinde tada no dango sankyōdai mitai ni natten zo‼

     I’ve reached my limit‼ My d*ck’s shrunk because of cold and now it’s like the three dango brothers down there‼

2. (board games, go, pejorative) an inefficient clump of stones

References