Talk:三味線

Etymology
Why does this instrument's name have the word 味 (flavor) in it? 24.29.228.33 22:03, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Fixed the etymology to explain this better. -- Eiríkr Útlendi | Tala við mig 06:31, 28 August 2011 (UTC)
 * The use of 味 is phonetic.
 * this link says that the sanshin was never called a jabisen in Okinawan; the Okinawan pronunciation would have been jafishin. Suggest a change to “Shift from via ” without the Okinawan borrowing/derivation? ～ POKéTalker（═◉═） 05:04, 21 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the ping. A few thoughts:
 * JA sources are consistent in mentioning the 蛇皮 as the reason for the non-standard reading of 三味.
 * They're also consistent in tracing the instrument to Okinawa.
 * The RYU pronunciation サンシン is probably traceable to 三線, the regular Chinese-derived spelling and associated reading.
 * Historical RYU documentation is probably spotty at best, from what little I've been able to glean.
 * Considering the above, I see two likely possibilities.
 * The JA derives from RYU, which has since been superseded in RYU by . (Note also the existence in JA of both  and .)  The JA reading is simply the regular expected reading of the 蛇皮線 kanji, rather than a borrowing of the RYU phonetics.
 * The JA etymon 蛇皮線 is simply a descriptive term for the Okinawan instrument, regardless of what it might have been called in RYU.
 * Door #2 is better supported by the resources I have access to. And I've learned more about researching etymologies since .  For example, the KDJ entry for 蛇皮線 notes, emphasis mine:
 * 沖縄の代表的な弦楽器三線(さんしん)の俗称.
 * Calling it 俗称 doesn't rule out a borrowing, but it does imply a less formal speech register -- which could in turn imply the possibility of a borrowing from RYU, which was not viewed as a prestige language.
 * Confusingly, the Britannica Japan entry for 三線 suggests that the kanji 蛇皮線 are read as さむしる somewhere, but it's not clear where -- is that a Japanese dialect? Some purported variety of RYU?  Anyway.
 * At any rate, the etym does need a bit of work to clarify that jabisen is not Okinawan. Thanks again for bringing this up!  ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │Tala við mig 17:19, 23 September 2019 (UTC)