河童

Chinese[edit]

		river	boy; child; children
simp. and trad. (河童)		河	童

河童

/kapawarapa/ → /kawawappa/ → /kawappa/ → /kappa/

Originally a compound of 川 (kapa → kawa, “river”) +‎ 童 (warapa → wappa, “child”).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

河(か)童(っぱ) • (kappa)

(Japanese mythology, folklore) a river-dwelling imp or monster from Japanese folklore
- 1999 September 23, “ひょうすべ [Hyōsube]”, in Vol.5, Konami:
  
  カッパの親(おや)分(ぶん)。攻(こう)撃(げき)力(りょく)は意(い)外(がい)と高(たか)い。守(しゅ)備(び)力(りょく)は低(ひく)め。
  Kappa no oyabun. Kōgekiryoku wa igai to takai. Shubiryoku wa hikume.
  A kappa boss with low defense strength, but surprisingly high attack strength.
- 2000 July 13, “サイコ・カッパー [Psycho Kappar]”, in Pharaoh’s Servant －ファラオのしもべ－, Konami:
  
  いろいろな超(ちょう)能(のう)力(りょく)を使(つか)い、攻(こう)撃(げき)のダメージを防(ふせ)ぐカッパ。
  Iroiro na chōnōryoku o tsukai, kōgeki no damēji o fusegu kappa.
  This kappa evades attack damage with his ESP.
a cucumber
rolled sushi with cucumber inside
(dated) a prostitute working from a boat that picks up customers from the banks of a river
(historical) a children's hairstyle in the Edo period, similar to the bowl cut
(dated, slang) a strong swimmer
Alternative spelling of 合羽 (“raincoat”)

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN