牛蒡

Chinese

		ox; cow; bull
trad. (牛蒡)		牛	蒡
simp. #(牛蒡)		牛	蒡

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): niúbàng

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄅㄤˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ngau⁴ bong²
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): giû-pông / gû-pông / gû-bō / gō͘-bō͘ / gō-bō

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ghu⁵ pang⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: niúbàng
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄅㄤˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: nióubàng
    • Wade–Giles: niu²-pang⁴
    • Yale: nyóu-bàng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nioubanq
    • Palladius: нюбан (njuban)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ pɑŋ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ngau⁴ bong²
    • Yale: ngàuh bóng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ngau⁴ bong²
    • Guangdong Romanization: ngeo⁴ bong²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋɐu̯²¹ pɔːŋ³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: giû-pông
    • Tâi-lô: giû-pông
    • Phofsit Daibuun: giu'poong
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡiu²³⁻³³ pɔŋ²³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡiu²⁴⁻¹¹ pɔŋ²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gû-pông
    • Tâi-lô: gû-pông
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gu'poong
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡu²⁴⁻¹¹ pɔŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡu²³⁻³³ pɔŋ²³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gû-bō
    • Tâi-lô: gû-bō
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gu'boi
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡu²⁴⁻¹¹ bo³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡu²³⁻³³ bɤ³³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gō͘-bō͘
    • Tâi-lô: gōo-bōo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: goxbo
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡɔ³³⁻¹¹ bɔ³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡɔ³³⁻²¹ bɔ³³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gō-bō
    • Tâi-lô: gō-bō
    • Phofsit Daibuun: goixboi
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡɤ³³⁻²¹ bɤ³³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡo³³⁻¹¹ bo³³/

Note: gû-bō/gō͘-bō͘/gō-bō - from Japanese.

• • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ghu⁵ pang⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: gû phâng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɡu⁵⁵⁻¹¹ pʰaŋ⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: ngjuw pangX

Rime
Character	牛	蒡
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	唐 (101)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	語求切	北朗切
Baxter	ngjuw	pangX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋɨu/	/pɑŋX/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋiu/	/pɑŋX/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiəu/	/pɑŋX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋuw/	/paŋX/
Li Rong	/ŋiu/	/pɑŋX/
Wang Li	/ŋĭəu/	/pɑŋX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ŋi̯ə̯u/	/pɑŋX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yóu	bǎng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ngau4	bong2

Noun

牛蒡

牛蒡

1. burdock

Synonyms

• 牛子 (niúzǐ)

Descendants

• → Middle Korean: 우워ᇰ (wuweng)
  • Korean: 우엉 (ueong)

References

• 小川尚義 (OGAWA Naoyoshi), editor (1931–1932), “gû-bō”, in 臺日大辭典 [Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary]‎^[2], volume 1 (overall work in Hokkien and Japanese), Taihoku: Government-General of Taiwan, →OCLC, page 398
• “Entry #31034”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
牛	蒡
ご Grade: 2	ぼう Hyōgai
kan'yōon

Alternative spellings
午蒡 (dated) 牛房 (obsolete) 午房 (obsolete)

Certainly from Middle Chinese 牛蒡 (MC ngjuw pangX), but with a shift from the expected go-on reading of *guhō (or with rendaku as *gubō); compare Korean 우엉 (ueong).

First cited to the Iroha Jiruishō (1177-1181).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ごぼー [gòbóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɡo̞bo̞ː]

Noun

牛(ご)蒡(ぼう) or 牛蒡(ゴボウ) • (gobō) ^{←ごばう (gobau)?}

1. [from 1177-1181] burdock (Arctium lappa)
2. [unknown] Abbreviation of 牛蒡注連 (gobōjime, “a type of 注連縄 (shimenawa) that is bundled with straw and tied like a burdock used for celebrations such as New Years or Shinto shrines”).
3. [unknown] a penis; a cock; a stalk

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

• (penis, cock, stalk): 牛蒡(ごぼう)を洗(あら)う (gobō o arau, “to have sex”, literally “to rinse a cock”)