赤ん坊

Japanese

Kanji in this term
赤	坊
あか Grade: 1	ぼう Grade: S
kun'yomi	goon

Etymology

Attested from the 19th century. Sound shift from slightly earlier 赤坊 (akabō), from 赤 (aka, “red”) +‎ 坊 (-bō, “little”).^[1] Compare 赤ちゃん (aka-chan) and 赤子 (akago), both of which also allude to the reddish complexion of a newborn.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) あかんぼー [àkáńbóó] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [a̠kã̠mbo̞ː]

Noun

赤(あか)ん坊(ぼう) • (akanbō) ^{←あかんばう (akanbau)^?}

an infant; a baby

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]