アンチョビ

Japanese アンチョビ is best explained from English anchovy in sound, while Italian cooking supplies much of the food context. Shogakukan lists アンチョビー as English anchovy, and Collins gives Italian acciuga, plural acciughe, for the same fish. Cambridge English-Japanese defines anchovy as a small salted fish, and Italian menus may also use alice in some regions. The borrowing becomes familiar in postwar food culture through pizza, pasta, hors d'oeuvres, canned goods, and olive-oil products. Digital Daijisen describes the fish as found in the Mediterranean and off the west coast of South America, then also as salt-fermented and oil-packed. In menus, アンチョビ appears with ピザ, パスタ, オリーブ, ケッパー, and バーニャカウダ. The meaning narrows from a small fish family, often カタクチイワシ, to a salty preserved ingredient used for seasoning. Modern Japanese usually treats アンチョビ as a food item rather than a live fish name; カタクチイワシ handles the zoological term. English anchovy can mean the fish or the salted food, and Italian acciuga is not the sound model for アンチョビ. The spelling アンチョビー also exists in dictionaries. Example: アンチョビのパスタ means pasta seasoned with salted anchovy, not a dish made from fresh small fish.