Asianとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From Latin āsiānus. By surface analysis, Asia +‎ -an.

The modern North American and Australasian usage, referring to East and Southeast Asians collectively, seems to be a shortened form of "Asian American", a term whose origins activists and academics trace back to 1968 and University of California, Berkeley (UCLA) students Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee, who, inspired by the Black Power Movement and the protests against the Vietnam War, founded the "Asian American Political Alliance" as a way to unite Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino American students on campus. It replaced the term "Mongoloid", but still continued the racial grouping of "Mongoloid".

The British and South African usage stems from South Asians historically forming the bulk of immigrants from the continent of Asia to the United Kingdom and South Africa. The word "Asian" is sometimes, albeit more rarely, used in the rest of the Anglosphere to refer to South Asians, but rarely (if ever) to Near Easterners and Central Asians.

発音

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA: /ˈeɪʒən/, /ˈeɪʃən/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA: /ˈæɪʒən/, /ˈæɪʃən/
• 韻: -eɪʃən, -eɪʒən

名詞

Asian (plural Asians)

1. A person from the continent of Asia, or a descendant thereof - especially:
   1. (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A person from or with ancestry in East or Southeast Asia, occasionally South Asia.
      • 2022 February 17, Eddie Kim, MEL Magazine‎:

        Hate crimes and attacks on Asians have captured the local news and the national attention since 2020, producing a stream of content that showed innocent people being attacked and belittled in never-ending variations on the same violent theme.

   2. (UK, Ireland, South Africa) A person from or with ancestry in South Asia.
      • 1987 May, Paul Oliver, “Movie Mahal: Indian cinema on ITV Channel 4”, in Popular Music, →DOI, page 215:

        If radio and television programmes are anything to go by, Asians in Britain get up early on a Sunday.

      • 2013, Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala:

        Were there Taliban beheading people? I didn't tell my parents, but I flinched if an Asian-looking man came close.

2. A domestic cat of a breed similar to the Burmese.

使用する際の注意点

• The American usage of "Asian" (East, Southeast, sometimes South Asian) is internationally used outside of English (e.g. in Turkish, German, Swedish, Korean, French, etc.).

同意語

• See Thesaurus:Asian
• (person from Asia): Oriental, Asiatic
• (person from east Asia): East Asian, Oriental, Oriental Asian, Chinese (loosely)
• (person from the Indian subcontinent): South Asian, Desi, Asian Indian, East Indian, Indian (loosely), Pakistani (loosely)

形容詞

Asian (not comparable)

1. Of, relating to or from Asia.
   • 2015 June 4, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, “The beauty contest winner making Japan look at itself”, in BBC‎:

     There are white, black, Asian and Chinese Britons

   • 2021 March 15, Jessie Yeung, “These Asian countries are giving dual citizens an ultimatum on nationality – and loyalty”, in CNN‎:

     And some Asian countries are tightening their immigration laws. Japan reinforced its strict stance in January when a court upheld the country’s ban against dual citizenship, rejecting a lawsuit filed by Japanese citizens living in Europe.

同意語

• Asiatic

派生語

関連する語

アナグラム

• Ansai, IANAS, naais