眼鏡

Attested in the late Ming Dynasty:

靉靆即眼鏡。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

叆叇即眼镜。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: late Ming Dynasty, 張自烈, 正字通 (Zhèngzìtōng)

Àidài jí yǎnjìng. [Pinyin]

靉靆 (àidài, “glasses”) is equal to 眼鏡 (yǎnjìng, “glasses”).

眼鏡

1. glasses; eyeglasses; spectacles (Classifier: 副 m c)

   戴眼鏡／戴眼镜  ―  dài yǎnjìng  ―  to wear glasses

   摘眼鏡／摘眼镜  ―  zhāi yǎnjìng  ―  to take off one's glasses

   除眼鏡／除眼镜 [Cantonese]  ―  ceoi⁴ ngaan⁵ geng^3-2 [Jyutping]  ―  to take off one's glasses

眼鏡 (megane, gankyō): a pair of eyeglasses.

Probably originally a compound of 目 (me, “eye”) +‎ 金 (kane, “metal”, in reference to the metal used in eyeglass frames). The kane changes to gane as an instance of rendaku (連濁). The spelling is based on an apparent borrowing from Chinese, see the gankyō reading below.

Appears in texts from the late 1500s.[1]

• (Tokyo) め​がね [méꜜgànè] (Atamadaka – [1])[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [me̞ɡa̠ne̞]

眼(め)鏡(がね) • (megane) 

1. glasses, eyeglasses

• 眼(め)鏡(がね)が狂(くる)う (megane ga kuruu)
• 眼(め)鏡(がね)にかなう (megane ni kanau)

• Korean: 메가나 (megana)

/ɡankjau/ → /ɡankjɔː/ → /ɡankjoː/

Probably a borrowing from written Chinese 眼鏡／眼镜 (yǎnjìng). Eyeglasses are first mentioned in Chinese in the 1400s as 靉靆／叆叇 (aidai?), a transcription of an Arabic term. By the late Ming dynasty, eyeglasses appear in writing as 靉靆即眼鏡／叆叇即眼镜 (“aidai, i.e. eye-lenses”), using the compound term 眼鏡／眼镜 (yǎnjìng, literally “eye + lens”). Compare modern Min Nan reading gán-kiàⁿ.

This reading appears in texts from the 1920s.[1]

• (Tokyo) がんきょー [gàńkyóó] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• IPA^(key): [ɡã̠ŋʲkʲo̞ː]

眼(がん)鏡(きょう) • (gankyō) ^{←がんきやう (gankyau)?}

1. (military, possibly archaic) glasses, eyeglasses

This reading was mostly used by the military.[1] The standalone term gankyō may be somewhat archaic now.

Note that there are compounds that end in 眼鏡 (gankyō) that appear to be derived from this term. However, Japanese sources parse these as deriving from other terms ending in 眼 (gan, “eye”) that are then suffixed with 鏡 (kyō, “lens”).

眼鏡 • (an'gyeong) (hangeul 안경)

1. Hanja form^? of 안경 (“glasses, spectacles”).

Cognate with mainland Japanese 眼鏡 (gankyō), ultimately deriving from written Chinese 眼鏡／眼镜 (yǎnjìng). Eyeglasses are first mentioned in Chinese in the 1400s as 靉靆／叆叇 (aidai?), a transcription of an Arabic term. By the late Ming dynasty, eyeglasses appear in writing as 靉靆即眼鏡／叆叇即眼镜 (“aidai, i.e. eye-lenses”), using the compound term 眼鏡／眼镜 (yǎnjìng, literally “eye + lens”). Compare modern Min Nan reading gán-kiàⁿ.

• (Shuri-Naha) がんちょー [gànchóó] (Heiban - [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɡaɲt͡ɕoː]

眼鏡 (hiragana がんちょー, rōmaji ganchō)

1. eyeglasses

• 目(みー)眼(がん)鏡(ちょー) (mīganchō)

Compound of 眼 (mī, “eye”, also spelled 目 when used in isolation) +‎ 鏡 (kagan, “mirror, lens”).

• (Shuri-Naha) みいかがん [mìíkágán] (Heiban - [0])
• IPA^(key): [miːkaɡaɴ]

眼鏡 (hiragana みーかがん, rōmaji mīkagan)

1. eyeglasses

• 遠(とぅー)眼(み)鏡(かがん) (tūmikagan)
• 虫(むし)眼(み)鏡(かがん) (mushi mikagan)

• “がんちょー【眼鏡】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
• “みーかがん【眼鏡】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.