ぺんぺん草

Japanese

Kanji in this term
草
くさ > ぐさ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Etymology

From ぺんぺん (penpen, onomatopoeia for a shamisen strumming) +‎ 草 (kusa, “grass”). The kusa changes to gusa as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

The penpen comes from the appearance of the seed vessel akin to a shamisen's 撥 (bachi, “plectrum”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぺんぺんぐさ [pèńpéꜜǹgùsà] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [pẽ̞mpẽ̞ŋɡɯ̟sa̠]

Noun

ぺんぺん草(ぐさ) or ぺんぺん草(グサ) • (penpengusa) 

1. Synonym of 薺 (nazuna): the shepherd's purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ペンペングサ.

Idioms

• ぺんぺん草(ぐさ)が生(は)える (penpengusa ga haeru, “grow shepherd's purses [in abandoned places] → be dilapidated”)