Where does “声優” come from?

声優 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 声, from Middle Chinese 聲 — sound, voice.

声優 (Japanese): voice actor; voice actress

Definitions

  1. voice actor; voice actress

Ancestry of “声優”, step by step

声優 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 声

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese声voice; voice, speech; tone
2Middle Chinese聲sound, voice

via Japanese 優

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese優enough, amply
2Middle Chinese優actor

Words derived from “声優”

Every word from Middle Chinese 聲 →Every word from Japanese 声 →