🌏 Region(s): Ryukyu (Okinawa)
いまいゆ : ima iyu | define meaning
ima iyu
Pronunciation: [ʔimaʔiju]
Definition
Noun
- Freshly harvested fish; freshly caught fish; fresh fish
Etymology
Several sources speculate the term originates from a compound of the Japanese word いま【今】 ima "now" and the Okinawan word いゆ【魚】 iyu "fish". However, いま ima may be the result of conflating なま【生】 nama "raw, fresh" with いま【今】 ima "now" (which itself became なま nama in Okinawan) or may be the result of transposing the *i- from いゆ iyu onto the first syllable.
Compare Kagoshima なまいお namaio and なまいを namaiwo; Tarama and Miyako (Nishihara) なまｽﾞず namaɿzu; Yaeyama (Hatoma, Miyara) なまいづ namaidzu; and Middle Japanese なまうお【生魚】 nama uo (なまうを nama uwo) "fresh fish".
Notes
By opposition, さがいいゆ【下がい魚】 sagaiiyu refers to fish that are no longer fresh.
Spelling
| Orthography | Form |
|---|---|
| Kana | いまいゆ |
| Romanization | ima iyu |
| Pronunciation (IPA) | [ʔimaʔiju] |
意味：とれたてさかな【取れたて魚】、しんせんなさかな【新鮮な魚】、せんぎょ【鮮魚】
Categories:
いまいゆ
Cite this entry: Read, Zachary. (2024, March 10). いまいゆ : ima iyu | define meaning. JLect: Japonic Languages and Dialects Database. Retrieved 2025, April 24, from https://www.jlect.com/entry/864/imaiyu/.