Old Japanese origin
Source-reportedMeaning: “blue”
/sawo/ (uncertain, may be compound as opposed to root) → /awo/ → /ao/ From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *awo. Appears as the latter part in older compounds with an -s- infix or prefix. It is unclear if this leading /s/ is indicative of an earlier form (sawo), or if this was an addition for euphony to avoid vowel clusters, or for other reasons. This /s/ is also seen in 雨(あめ) (ame, “rain”, becoming same in old compounds) and 稲(いね) (ine, “rice”, becoming shine in old compounds).
Sources for this account (5)
- Wiktionary: 青CC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
- JMnedict entry 5450517CC-BY-SA-4.0 · rev. 2026-10-15 · retrieved 2026-10-15
- Turkish Wiktionary: 青CC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
- Chinese Wiktionary: 青CC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
- KANJIDIC2: 青CC-BY-SA-4.0 · rev. 2026-288 · retrieved 2026-10-15
