Gajaskin Handekko

[Sylfaire]

What is a 'handekko'? I can't find any usage of this word anywhere else aside from here.

I'm thinking someone meant to create a name for Gajaskin [Hand] gear, and then somehow misappropriated 'tekko' in there (Gajaskin Tekko already exists).

[Rongway]

A 半手甲 handekko is a half glove: 半 (han=half) + 手甲 (tekko=handguard/glove). When you make a compound word using a second word that begins with a voiceless consonant the second word might gain initial voicing, a phenomenon called rendaku in Japnese language. You've seen this in other words such as 彼岸花 Higanbana (彼岸 higan + 花 hana) and 燕返し Tsubame-Gaeshi (燕 tsubame + 返し kaeshi). This is why all the actual Tsubame-Gaeshi action names begin with Kaeshi rather than Gaeshi; no longer the second word, kaeshi reverts to its natural voiceless start.

[Iscah]

A 半手甲 handekko is a half glove: 半 (han=half) + 手甲 (tekko=handguard/glove).

That makes sense in itself, but it's still the same model as the Onishi Tekko and possibly others, so they should both get the same name.

[Rongway]

That makes sense in itself, but it's still the same model as the Onishi Tekko and possibly others, so they should both get the same name.

They should get the same name, maybe, but if what we're aiming for is consistency, it would make more sense to rename the Onishi Tekko to Onishi Handekko, as it really is a halfglove rather than a proper gauntlet like all the other hand pieces named Tekko.

[Iscah]

They should get the same name, maybe, but if what we're aiming for is consistency, it would make more sense to rename the Onishi Tekko to Onishi Handekko, as it really is a halfglove rather than a proper gauntlet like all the other hand pieces named Tekko.

I agree it makes more sense to call both of them "halfgloves", but perhaps it would be better to write the word as "han-dekko" instead of "handekko" so it reads more clearly and avoids the misreading of "hand".

For comparison we have "tsutsu-hakama" hyphenated.