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Is 写真, the word for photograph, in any way a form of onomatopoeia? That is to
say, is it at all based on the sound of taking a photo?

I'm aware of the meanings of 写 and 真, but when said aloud I always pictured
"shashin" as perhaps an imitation of an old camera shutter. Are my suspicions
rooted in reality, or is it just a coincidence?
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2019-10-14T18:15:19.123
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etymology onomatopoeia
Is 写真 an onomatopoeia?
It's just a coincidence. According to [this
article](http://bn.dgcr.com/archives/20140609140200.html), the word 「写真」 and
its usage predates photography. The 「真」 part referred to 「人の姿」, so 写真 was used
to mean 「姿を写したもの」, and was used for other things such as ink drawings, 浮世絵,
and other illustrations of people.

From the article:

>
> このフォトグラフィ以前の写真とは、（王様や身分の高い）人物の姿をそっくりに描くことを指している。日本でも天皇の写真のことをかつては「御真影」と言ったが、この単語の「真」は人の姿を言い表している。つまり「写真」とは、「真＝姿」を「写」したものであり、フォトグラフィ以外でも、水墨画や浮世絵や他の絵図でも肖像画は「写真」だった。
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No, it's not.

Wikipedia [says](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F#cite_ref-1):

> 日本語の「写真」という言葉は、中国語の「真を写したもの」からである
>
> Japanese "写真" comes from the Chinese meaning "Copy/reproduction(写) of the
> reality/truth(真)"

Source is 『日本語源広辞典』(Nihongo Genji(?) Jiten).

P.S. The shutter sound is usually written as [カシャ or
パシャ](https://otologic.jp/free/se/camera01.html).
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Bai Juyi's poems often refer to "写真", which is a common word in China's tang
dynasty. For example:《李夫人》："君恩不尽念未已，甘泉殿里令写真". In Chinese history, the word
"写真" gradually faded out of use, but it was preserved in Japan and borrowed in
China again.
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