琵琶

Etymology
Borrowed from a language in the during the. Compare 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Both characters were initially non-checked-tone characters. Reborrowed during the from a source that more closely resembles the modern Persian name of the instrument, both characters were read as if they have checked codas. The original non-checked readings were restored after the Ming Dynasty (bat carving head pipa). Compare the modern checked-tone dialectal readings of.

Much folk etymology exists surrounding the name origin. The dictionary  explains the name as, reflecting the plucking movements while playing the stringed instrument. 琵琶 is also cognate with—and possibly gave rise to the name of (due to the similarity in shape)—, which is also a non-native species.

Noun

 * 1) pipa plucked Chinese string instrument

Descendants
Others:

Etymology
→ →

Borrowing from. The sound change of →  is unusual in Sino-Japanese vocabulary.

Noun

 * 1) biwa (plucked, fretted pear-shaped Japanese lute with four or, more rarely, five strings)

Proper noun

 * 1) a place name