ねずみ算

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Japanese

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Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
Kanji in this term
さん > ざん
Grade: 2
on'yomi

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Compound of ねずみ (nezumi, mouse) + (さん) (san, mathematics). The san changes to zan as an instance of rendaku (連濁). Derives from a common word problem in Japan which states that "In January, there is a pair of mice. They copulate and bear twelve children. The next month, 7 pairs of mice copulate and bear twelve children respectively. How many mice are there in December?"

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ne̞zɨmʲizã̠ɴ]

Noun

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ねずみ(ざん) (nezumizan

  1. (colloquial) exponential growth

Derived terms

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