Is the kanji 缶 and its pronounciation and meaning based on the english word for can or is it a coincidence?

3 comments

1. Maybe it is there are two etymologies on wiktionary:

   > Likely from Dutch kan (“cylindrical metallic container”), with additional influence from English can (“cylindrical metallic container”). The kanji is an example of ateji (当て字). Alternatively, from Middle Chinese 罐 (kuɑnH, “can; jar; tin”). The usage of 缶 is likely due to a 新字体 (shinjitai) simplification from earlier 旧字体 (kyūjitai) 罐, where the phonetic component 雚 was entirely eliminated.

   Source:

   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%BC%B6#Glyph_origin

2. 罐 = guan in Mandarin, which means can

   and like many pronunciations in Japanese, a lot of them are very similar to the Chinese counterpart. Some examples:

   禁止 = kinshi = jin zhi
   家庭 = katei = jia ting
   時間 = jikan = shi jian

   and many many more. So to answer your question, it’s complicated, but it’s absolutely not based on the English “can”.

3. Idk, Ive seen a lot of trash cans (no pun intended) in japan that use Katakana for “Cans”. Though I’ve only seen a few trash cans in Tokyo parks, not really sufficient experience to say.