硫黄

See also: 硫黃

Chinese
For pronunciation and definitions of 硫黄 – see 硫黃 (“sulfur; sulphur; S”).
(This term, 硫黄, is the simplified form of 硫黃.)
Notes:

Japanese
Chemical element
S
Previous: リン (rin) (P)
Next: 塩(えん)素(そ) (enso) (Cl)

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
硫 黄
い
Grade: S		 おう
Grade: 2
jukujikun
Alternative spellings
硫黃 (kyūjitai)
硫磺

/juawa/ → /juwau/ → /iwau/ → /iwɔː/ → /iwoː/ → /ioː/

Originally a compound of 湯 (yu, “warm or hot water”) +‎ 泡 (awa, “bubble”), from the way that volcanic hot springs would often be accompanied by bubbles of sulfur gas.[1][2]

The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), from Chinese 硫黃／硫黄 (liúhuáng).

An alternative theory is that the character 硫 (“sulfur”) developed an on'yomi of yu instead of the usual goon of ru or kan'on of ryū, such that the reading is on'yomi.[1] However, given that this particular sound shift is not found in other kanji readings, this derivation seems unlikely.

This is the most common reading for this term in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)

Noun

硫(い)黄(おう) • (iō) ←いわう (iwau)?

  1. sulfur (element)
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
硫 黄
ゆ
Grade: S		 おう
Grade: 2
irregular
Alternative spellings
硫黃 (kyūjitai)
硫磺

/juawa/ → /juwau/ → /juwɔː/ → /juwoː/ → /juoː/

Other than the difference in phonetic shifts, the derivation is the same as for iō above.

This reading is rare, and possibly archaic.

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)

Noun

硫(ゆ)黄(おう) • (yuō) ←ゆわう (yuwau)?

  1. (rare, possibly archaic) sulfur (element)

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
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