真牡蠣

Japanese

Kanji in this term
真	牡	蠣
ま Grade: 3	かき > がき
	Jinmeiyō	Hyōgai
kun'yomi	jukujikun

Etymology

Literally, “true oyster”, 真(ま) (ma, “true”) + 牡蠣(かき) (kaki, “oyster”). The kaki changes to gaki as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ma̠ɡa̠kʲi]

Noun

真(ま)牡蠣(がき) or 真牡蠣(マガキ) • (magaki) 

1. pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas

Usage notes

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