マテガイ

Japanese
マテガイ: Gould's razor shell

Etymology
Alternative spellings
蟶貝
馬刀貝
馬蛤貝

Uncertain. Appears to be a compound of 真手 (mate, “both hands together”) +‎ 貝 (kai, “clam, shell”), presumably from the shape of the shell. The kai changes to gai as an instance of rendaku (連濁). The kanji spellings of mate are ateji.

Pronunciation

Noun

マテガイ or まてがい • (mategai) ←まてがひ (mategafi)?

  1. a razor clam, more specifically Gould's razor shell: Solen strictus.

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

References
  1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
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