馬鍬

Compound of 馬(うま) (uma, “horse”) + 鍬(くわ) (kuwa, “hoe”),^[1][2][3] in reference to the practice of using horses to pull, and the shape of the tool as a horizontal support with metal teeth protruding downward, somewhat similar to the way the metal blade of a hoe points downward from the handle when held horizontally.

The umaguwa pronunciation appears to be the original form of the word. First cited to the Wamyō Ruijushō of 934.^[1]

• (Tokyo) うまぐわ [ùmágúwá] (Heiban – [0])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ma̠ɡɯ̟β̞a̠]

馬(うま)鍬(ぐわ) • (umaguwa) ^{←うまぐは (umagufa)?}

1. [from 934] a harrow (farm implement)
2. [from 934] a rake (farm implement)
3. [from 934] a kind of light plow (farm implement)

The Japanese term refers to a kind of tool configuration that most overlaps with the English term harrow. In certain configurations, it might instead be considered a kind of rake, as a finer tool for smoothing the surface of a field, or as a kind of light plow, as a stronger tool for cutting into the surface of a field.

• 万能(まんのう) (mannō, literally “10,000 capabilities”)
• 馬歯(うまは) (umaha, rare, possibly obsolete, literally “horse tooth”)

/umaɡuwa/ → /maɡuwa/

Sound shift from 馬(うま)鍬(ぐわ) (umaguwa) above.^[1][2][3]

First cited to around the late 1300s.^[1]

• (Tokyo) まぐわ [màgúwá] (Heiban – [0])^[3][4]
• IPA^(key): [ma̠ɡɯ̟β̞a̠]

馬(ま)鍬(ぐわ) • (maguwa) ^{←まぐは (magufa)?}

1. [from late 1300s] a harrow (farm implement)
   • 1956, 伊藤永之介, 押しかけ女房‎^[3], 青空文庫:

     ガバ／＼と音(おと)立(た)てて進(すす)む馬鍬(まぐは)のあとに、両側(りやうがは)から流(なが)れ寄(よ)つて来(く)る饀(あん)みたいな泥(どろ)の海(うみ)に掻(か)き残(のこ)された大(おほ)きな土塊(つちくれ)の島(しま)が浮(うか)ぶ。

     Gabagaba to oto tatete susumu maguwa no ato ni, ryōgawa kara nagareyotte kuru an mitai na doro no umi ni kakinokosareta ōkina tsuchikure no shima ga ukabu.

     The harrow moved forward while making sloshing noises, and in its tracks was a large island of dirt, left unscraped in the red-bean-paste-like sea of mud that flowed in from both sides.

2. [from late 1300s] a rake (farm implement)
3. [from late 1300s] a kind of light plow (farm implement)

The Japanese term refers to a kind of tool configuration that most overlaps with the English term harrow. In certain configurations, it might instead be considered a kind of rake, as a finer tool for smoothing the surface of a field, or as a kind of light plow, as a stronger tool for cutting into the surface of a field.

• 万能(まんのう) (mannō, literally “10,000 capabilities”)
• 馬歯(うまは) (umaha, rare, possibly obsolete, literally “horse tooth”)

/maɡuwa/ → /maŋɡuwa/

Sound shift from 馬(ま)鍬(ぐわ) (maguwa) above.^[1][2][3] Japanese /ɡ/ was once [ᵑɡ], and is still pronounced [ŋ] intervocalically by some, so this shift could be interpreted as gemination or other strengthening of the /ɡ/.

The shift may also have arisen, or persisted, in part from influence of the synonym 万能(まんのう) (mannō); the term 万(まん) (man, “ten thousand”) is often prepended to various terms to signify "multi-use". Compare rare alternative spelling 万(まん)鍬(ぐわ) (manguwa).

Date of first appearance unclear, but it would have been before the 1595 citation for phonologically derived form 馬(まん)鍬(ぐわ) (mangwa).

May be a rare or dialectal pronunciation in modern usage. Not included at all in some dictionaries,^[4][5] and included only as a note under the 馬(まん)鍬(が) (manga) reading in some others.^[2][3]

• IPA^(key): [mã̠ŋɡɯ̟β̞a̠]

馬(まん)鍬(ぐわ) • (manguwa) ^{←まんぐは (mangufa)?}

1. [from some time before 1595] (rare) alternative form of 馬鍬 (maguwa)

/maɡuwa/ → /maŋɡuwa/ → /maŋɡwa/ → /maŋɡa/

Sound shift from 馬(ま)鍬(ぐわ) (maguwa) above.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Historically, the labial glide gwa was spelled ぐわ (guwa). The historically attested reading mangwa reading likely arose due to this spelling convention, mangwa becoming manga after gwa merged into ga.

First cited to 1595 with the pronunciation mangwa, prior to the gwa → ga merger.^[1]

• (Tokyo) まんが [màńgá] (Heiban – [0])^[3][4]
• (Tokyo) まんが [màńgáꜜ] (Odaka – [3])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [mã̠ŋɡa̠]

馬(まん)鍬(が) • (manga) ^{←まんぐわ (mangwa)?}

1. [from 1595] alternative form of 馬鍬 (maguwa)

• “馬^▲鍬”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[4] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025