soot 復習
かつては日常生活でも使われていた和ろうそくについての記事がThe Japan Newsにありました。
All aglow with warosoku: Traditional Japanese candles have timeless charm
KYOTO — Warosoku, or traditional Japanese candles, were once an everyday source of lighting, and they are still placed at Shinto or Buddhist altars set up in people’s homes. However, fewer and fewer people are using them today, partly because fewer families have such altars.
Nevertheless, the gentle light of warosoku — “wa” means Japanese and “rosoku” is candle — has a timeless charm and can bring comfort and warmth to the modern lifestyle.
Nakamura Rosoku is a warosoku manufacturer established in 1887 in Kyoto. During a recent visit by The Yomiuri Shimbun, the shop was filled with a scent evoking a somewhat nostalgic feeling. Hirokazu Tagawa, the fourth-generation head of the business, was coating candle wicks with melted wax in layers to make them thicker.
中略
Unlike Western candles that use paraffin-based wax, warosoku produce little smoke and hardly drip, and their soot is less sticky, according to Tagawa.
“It’s easy to wipe away the soot,” the craftsman said. “Even if wax sticks to Buddhist altar articles or other hard surfaces, you can wash it away with hot water.”
以下省略
http://www.the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004246105
気になったのはsoot/sˈʊt/という単語です。wipe awayとあったので、溶けたろうかなと思いましたが、『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版,大修館書店）を見てみると「すす」や「…をすすだらけにする,すすで汚す」）とありました。
通例は受け身の形で使われるようです。また同じ意味の単語はcarbon blackで、違いはcarbon blackが「〈天然ガスを不完全燃焼させたときに生じる黒いすす〉」であるということだそうです。ちなみにsootの形容詞形はsooty/sˈʊṭi,sˈʊti/だと記載されていました。ブログでsootを使った熟語を見つけたのでそちらもぜひご確認ください。
cf. soot sprites
