明治時代に工場法が公布され、工場に関する法律が定められました。工場という漢字は「こうじょう」や「こうば」とも読まれますが、なぜ「こうじょう」が定着したのかについての有力説は、商業施設である「勧工場」との混同を避けるためだったとされています。明治時代には「こうば」と読まれる例もありましたが、工場としての使用時には「こうじょう」と読むことが一般的となりました。これは工業を振興する場所を示す「勧工場」との類似性を避けるためだったと考えられています。この問題は「商業施設と混同」という理由が有力な解とされています。
What is the predominant theory for the pronunciation of the word “factory” (こうじょう)?
【Word Test】Today’s Question and Answer
Good morning! Here are the questions and answers from the “Word Test Smart”.
Professor Hayashi presents fun quizzes and interesting explanations related to “words” and “kanji”.
* Please note that until the official answers are released, the answers provided are only predictions.
Word Test Question
On March 28th, yesterday, the Factory Act was promulgated in the 44th year of the Meiji era.
It set the maximum working hours for factory workers to 12 hours a day and also established standards for breaks and holidays.
The holiday standard was set at two times or more, and this applied only to those under 15 years old or female workers.
The Labor Standards Act was enacted to replace the Factory Act on the 22nd year of Showa.
The kanji for “factory” can also be read as “こうば” in addition to “こうじょう”.
Both readings are listed in the dictionary, but nowadays, the pronunciation “こうじょう” may be more common.
Therefore, today’s question is about the most plausible explanation for why the pronunciation “こうじょう” for “factory” has become established.
What is the predominant theory for the pronunciation of “factory” (こうじょう)?
Blue – Adopted in textbooks
Red – Confused with commercial facilities
Green – Desire for emotions
We are reporting the answers for the “Word Test” |
Word Test Answer
Red – Confused with commercial facilities
Word Test Explanation
Explanation for Today
The kanji “工場” (factory) was first referred to as “こうば” in the Meiji era when factories began to appear in Japan, as seen in Higuchi Ichiyo’s “Nigorie” in the 28th year of Meiji.
However, there are examples of it being read as “こうじょう” as early as the 19th year of Meiji.
Therefore, it seems that during the Meiji era, both readings “こうじょう” and “こうば” were used.
However, there were cases in the Meiji era where the kanji for factory was only read as “こうば”.
One such example is the three-character combination “勧工場” read as “かんこうば”.
The first kanji in this combination, with the kun reading “すす”, means “to encourage” or “to promote”.
The term “勧工場” (かんこうば) was named as a place to promote industry.
It was a facility where various shops were housed in one building, similar to a shopping mall in the Meiji era.
To avoid confusion with “勧工場” (かんこうば), it is said that the pronunciation “こうじょう” for “factory” gradually became more common when referring to a place for manufacturing goods.
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