布団

Japanese
Kanji in this term
布 団
ふ
Grade: 5
(ateji)		 とん
Grade: 5
goon tōon
Alternative spellings
布團 (kyūjitai)
蒲団
布団 (futon): traditional Japanese futon bedding, with the 敷布団 (shiki-buton) on the bottom, and the 掛け布団 (kake-buton) on top.

Etymology

Borrowed from written Chinese, possibly early Mandarin 蒲團／蒲团 (pútuán), likely as part of the importation of Zen Buddhism, for which practice these were originally used. First cited in Japanese to a text from the early-mid 1200s with the "meditation cushion" sense.[1]

Originally referred literally to a 蒲 (pú, “bulrush, cattail”) 團／团 (tuán, “ball”), from the way these were round cushions made from woven bulrush leaves.[1][2]

After the term was borrowed, the usage and construction of these cushions changed and the connection with bulrushes was weakened, leading to the simpler character 布 (fu, “cloth”) being used as a replacement for 蒲 (fu, “bulrush, cattail”).

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) ふとん [fùtóń] (Heiban – [0])[3]
  • IPA(key): [ɸɯ̟̊ᵝtõ̞ɴ]
  • Audio(file)

Noun

布(ふ)団(とん) • (futon) 

  1. [from early-mid 1200s] (Buddhism, specifically Zen) a round cushion made of woven bulrush leaves, used for zazen seated Zen meditation
  2. [from 1592] short for 座布団 (zabuton, “seat / sitting cushion”)
  3. [from 1638] (most common sense in modern usage) traditional Japanese-style bedding, more specifically the 敷布団 (shiki-buton, “mattress”, literally “spreading / laying-down futon”) or 掛け布団 (kake-buton, “duvet or quilt”, literally “covering futon”), or a set of both, spread directly on a tatami floor
    布団(ふとん)を敷(し)く
    futon o shiku
    to lay out the futon → to make the bed
    布団(ふとん)をあげる
    futon o ageru
    to raise the futon → to put away the bedding

Usage notes
  • 布団 may refer to just the mattress, just the comforter, or the entire bed consisting of both.
  • Note that the Japanese term has no "furniture" sense, unlike the borrowed English term futon, which can refer to a specific kind of sofa-bed.

Derived terms

Descendants
Descendants
  • → Arabic: فُوتُون (futūn)
  • → Mandarin: 布團／布团 (bùtuán)
  • → English: futon
  • → Finnish: futon
  • → French: futon
  • → German: Futon
  • → Korean: 후톤 (huton)
  • → Marathi: फुतोन (phuton)
  • → Russian: футо́н (futón)
  • → Spanish: futón
  • → Welsh: ffŵton

References
  1. “蒲団・布団”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. “布団”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  3. 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
  • 2000, Jonathan Bunt, Gillian Hall, The Oxford Starter Japanese Dictionary, First Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
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