The study of the origin of words and the historical development of their meanings.
2
votes
1answer
103 views
What is the etymology for やいかに
I would like to know more about the usage and etymology of やいかに
Example sentences:
はたして結果やいかに
運命やいかに
はたして鑑定やいかに
Questions:
What is the etymology of the word?
I have seen also はいかに ...
0
votes
0answers
251 views
What is Boruto Tekusuchaa? [closed]
What is Boruto Tekusuchaa? It is kind of a dress. That is all I know. can someone help with identifying it? I think it has some sort of tibetian influence.
4
votes
2answers
206 views
Understanding the たがい in 仲たがい
What is the etymology of the suffix(?)たがい in 仲たがい and how is it used to express discord? If this is a suffix as such, is it used in combination with any other words?
7
votes
1answer
296 views
Why is there a 分 in 自分?
I didn't find anywhere why is the minute's kanji there in 自分? Is it because a meaning of 分 is "part". Please clarify.
9
votes
1answer
231 views
What is the meaning/usage of いざ?
Will someone please explain what this word いざ means? I've found several definitions, but I'm very unclear on what it really means and its usage. I've heard it mostly in the following ways:
...
6
votes
2answers
168 views
Etymology of とんでもない
Where did とんでもない (meaning "not at all" or "outrageous!") come from?
Could it be 飛んでもない ? ("will not even jump/fly" in a similar way how "When pigs fly" is considered a remark for something ...
8
votes
2answers
275 views
Origin of onsen term “wani”
Why was "wani" (crocodile or alligator) chosen as a term for a gawker at a konyoku (mixed gender onsen)?
Was it because of the animal's ability to stare, the fact that it is a predator, or was it ...
4
votes
1answer
219 views
Confusion between causatives and intransitive-transitive
I read the answer to this question
How different is 冷やかす from 冷やす? And 散らかす from 散らす?
but somehow wasn't satisfied.
What's the difference between the 2 causative forms ～す and ～せる, e.g. 待たす and ...
5
votes
2answers
232 views
Where does the ド in ド素人 comes from?
素人 means beginner.
ド素人 means total beginner.
ド means "very", "total". Any idea where does this word come from etymologically? It is sometimes also written in hiragana.
Are there other current ...
14
votes
4answers
369 views
Words made from strokes of a kanji like 女 toくノ一
According to Wikipedia, one theory for the etymology of くノ一 (female ninja) is that it's made up of the strokes of the kanji 女 (woman).
Other theories include that it means nine and one, talking about ...
7
votes
1answer
156 views
What is the etymology of the term [仏]{ほとけ}[様]{さま}?
What is the etymology of the term 仏様 ?
I am interested because of all the meanings this word can possess.
4
votes
1answer
128 views
“Dive” = “fly into”?
The words 飛ぶ and 跳ぶ are both read as とぶ, the former meaning "to fly" and the latter meaning "to jump" (generally; don't know if they are interchangeable at all).
The compound-verb suffix 〜込【こ】む means ...
4
votes
2answers
167 views
What is the etymology of 赤の他人?
彼は赤の他人だよ — He's a total stranger to me
How did "red stranger" come to mean "total stranger" in Japanese? Is there anything that makes this expression make sense more than "That's just what it ...
3
votes
1answer
151 views
What is the etymology of the word マラ?
Does anyone have an opinion on the etymology of the word マラ, a crude term for penis?
Any thoughts on usage are also appreciated.
http://gogen-allguide.com/ma/mara.html
5
votes
1answer
204 views
What's the deal with/origin of the character 曰?
I'm talking about the 曰 from 曰【いわ】く, not the common 日【ひ】 we all know and love.
Why would they "make" two characters that look (for all intents and purposes) exactly the same?
How do you really ...
4
votes
1answer
143 views
Does 被【かぶ】る have any relation to “cover”?
Topic. I've heard/seen somewhere that 被【かぶ】る was "gairaigo-fied" (?) from the English word "cover" (similar to ダブる or デモる), and then presumably given ateji from 被【おお】う since the meanings overlap so ...
15
votes
1answer
397 views
Why is a place that sells さけ a さかや?
Is it known why a さかや normally has a か, rather than a け like in さけ?
Are there many other -や constructions for stores that change the spelling of the word added to?
3
votes
2answers
242 views
Translation of “に” into “natural” English
All of my Japanese teachers have told me that な-adjectives converted to に-ending words and い-adjectives converted to く-ending words, when followed by a verb, are 'adverbs'. However, sentences sound ...
6
votes
3answers
499 views
よかろう - What does it mean? Where does it come from?
This is another question that's come from a 昔話。
We have the following section:
大きい箱と小さい箱がありますが、どちらがいいですか。
どちらも結構じゃが、どうしてもと言うのなら、小さいほうでよかろう。
I'm having trouble with the second sentence. My ...
5
votes
1answer
172 views
Mukashi-banashi. Do they borrow from other current dialects in addition to older Japanese?
At my schools 日本語クラブ, we studied a 昔話 (舌切り雀）, which like most of the others I've read, had some nonstandard grammatical constructions. I've heard that many of these constructions are archaic forms ...
7
votes
1answer
204 views
Words with metathesis
What common Japanese words underwent metathesis (transposition of sounds)?
Examples.
新{あたら}しい < あらたしい
秋葉原 {あきはばら} < あきばはら
8
votes
1answer
474 views
Left (ひだり) and right (みぎ) as cardinal directions
In many Indo-European ancient languages, there used to be a strong connection between the words for right and left on one side and the words for south and north1 (respectively) on the other side.
This ...
12
votes
1answer
199 views
Why did の disappear from 山手, but in 御茶ノ水 it's in katakana?
I realize that very likely the answer to this question is likely to be something along the lines of "that's just the way it is", but I thought it worth asking to see if there were some insights that ...
7
votes
3answers
193 views
Where does the いかない in ～わけにはいかない come from?
My first thought is that いかない in this phrase conveys the meaning of 行かない, that is, not progressing to something. But this is mere guesswork.
What is the history of いかない in ~わけにはいかない? Does it have ...
5
votes
2answers
120 views
Why is there 丼 {どんぶり} in 丼勘定 {どんぶりかんじょう}?
How does 丼勘定 {どんぶりかんじょう} (sloppy accounting) related to 丼 {どんぶり} (bowl of rice with toppings)? I mean, why どんぶり of all foods and things? Was there special history for the origin of this set phrase?
2
votes
2answers
115 views
What may be the etymology of たり?
Hi all does anyone know why does たりとも mean "not even; not any" ?
Example sentence: 一問たりとも答えられなかった
I was thinking the たり is attached to 一問 to mean something like "stuff like one question" and と means ...
5
votes
1answer
390 views
Etymology of 出来る dekiru
An entry of Tae Kim's blog suggested that 出来る came from Chinese word 出来 that does have the nuance of potentiality, but the most recent visitor's comment claimed that the usage of 出来 in Chinese to show ...
5
votes
2answers
241 views
Are there verbs that end with ず,づ, ふ, ぷ, しゅう, ちゅう and じゅう? Why not?
I noticed that verb ending syllables cover all of -u syllables (る,く,ぐ,す,つ etc) except ず,づ, ふ, ぷ, しゅう, ちゅう and じゅう.
I suspect that ず is reserved for the negative conjugation thus no plain form verb ...
11
votes
2answers
259 views
What exactly is 「だらし」?
WWWJDIC states that 「だらしない」 can be written with kanji as 「だらし無い」, which suggests that the phrase is a negative construction that uses 「無い」, unlike words like 「すくない」 and 「あぶない」. Furthermore, 「だらしが無い」 ...
9
votes
1answer
352 views
Usage of お+[verb stem]+する for humble form and お+[verb stem]+になる for honorific form
Apart from using verb-specific humble and honorific versions (e.g. 参る < 行く < いらっしゃる), the general method of turning a verb into humble is by using お+[verb stem aka 連用形]+する while the general ...
8
votes
2answers
214 views
Saying 「おかわり」 when requesting second helping: what is being exchanged?
I am aware that the phrase 「おかわり」 that is used when asking for second helping (of meals especially) is an idiomatic expression, so its usage is understood as it is. But, I'm curious about the origin ...
14
votes
2answers
337 views
Exceptional compounding forms
There are a number of Japanese words which have distinct compounding forms:
-a/-e alternation: 天・雨、酒、上、風、目 — many examples.
-u/-i alternation: 神（[神]{かむ}[集]{つど}ふ）、月（[月]{つく}[読]{よみ}）
-o/-i alternation: ...
9
votes
1answer
188 views
Was sake always called nihonshu?
Was nihonshu (what English refers to as "sake") always called nihonshu, or was it only called that once western alcoholic beverages were introduced to Japan?
9
votes
1answer
219 views
Why did オレンジ replace 橙【だいだい】?
This question about colours got me thinking:
Why, and how, did オレンジ come to replace 橙【だいだい】 to refer to the colour orange?
It seems weird to me that a 外来語【がいらいご】(word taken from a foreign language) ...
10
votes
3answers
266 views
The etymology of 関手【かんしゅ】
In Japanese mathematics, the word ‘functor’ is translated as 関手【かんしゅ】. What is the etymology of this word?
I suspect that it is a pun on 関数 (function). This leads to two further questions:
Why 関手 ...
10
votes
2answers
266 views
Etymology of 土産 {みやげ}
The pronunciation "みやげ" does not correspond to on'yomi nor kun'yomi of 土産, so I thought it was a gikun (義訓), but the combination of kanji 土 and 産 does not seem to provide the meaning of "souvenir" ...
13
votes
3answers
608 views
Historical differences between colors that are i-adjectives and those that are simply nouns
EDIT: Started a bounty with hope of getting more definitive and elaborate answers, e.g. timeline of when color names started being used in Japan.
In Japanese language, there are colors that are ...
5
votes
2answers
204 views
What is the difference between 照{て}れる and 照{て}れてる?
According to my dictionary, both 照{て}れる and 照{て}れてる mean to be shy, or be awkward.
I don't think one is a different verb form of the other. The て+いる form of 照れる would be 照れている, not 照れてる.
So I think ...
11
votes
2answers
166 views
What are the origins of ド when used as emphasis, and is it always negative?
Sometimes I've seen ド as a prefix that adds emphasis to words. So saying someone is ドバカ is saying that they are much more stupid than just バカ.
I'm wondering what the origin of ド in this context is. ...
7
votes
2answers
583 views
Is B2F, B1F, 1F, 2F, … wasei-eigo?
While visiting Tokyo, I noticed that most levels were indicated by B2F, B1F, 1F, 2F, ... .
This doesn't look like the Romaji for -kai or -gai counter-words, which I assume would be chika ni-kai, ...
6
votes
1answer
147 views
regarding the kanjis 嗚呼; 於乎; 於戯; 嗟乎; 嗟夫; 吁; 嗟; 噫; 鳴呼
This question has 2 parts.
Why is it that ああ has so many different kanji 嗚呼; 於乎; 於戯; 嗟乎; 嗟夫; 吁; 嗟; 噫; 鳴呼 (source)
and is the average japanese (16 yr old and above) able to recognize them all?
8
votes
1answer
999 views
What are the meanings of ~とも [tomo] and ~かしら [kashira]?
Sometimes I think:
～とも came from ～と思う
～かしら came from ～かしらん（知らない）
It's possible I'm wrong, so I would like to know the real meaning of those suffixes. Also, I'd like to know when I can use them ...
21
votes
2answers
849 views
Where does “もしもし” (moshimoshi) for answering the telephone come from?
Does the term "もしもし" (moshimoshi) predate the telephone? Does it have any use besides answering the phone? Where does it come from, is it just a reduplication of "もし" (moshi) "if", and if so how does ...
7
votes
3answers
337 views
Are there any common Japanese words which were borrowed from Ainu or other indigenous languages?
I know plenty of Japanese words that came from English and a few from other European languages (obviously tons from Chinese), but what about words from Japan's indigenous languages such as Ainu? Also ...
10
votes
1answer
179 views
How can [数]{す}[寄]{き}[者]{しゃ} both mean a tea ceremony master and a “lewd man, a lecher”?
I would like to understand better the etymology or the cultural context surrounding
数寄者
If I believe wwwjdic, this
compound is used to denote
a tea ceremony master (with a reference to a ...
8
votes
1answer
194 views
Why is 五右衛門 read “goemon”?
Why is the name 五右衛門 read as ごえもん?
How can the three kanji 五右衛 be read with only two syllables?
11
votes
4answers
203 views
History of 十干（じっかん）and modern uses
As I was studying vocabulary today, I happened to come across the titular 十干 which are as follows:
甲（こう）• 乙（おつ）• 丙（へい）• 丁（てい） •戊（ぼ）• 己（き）• 庚（こう）• 辛（しん）• 壬（じん）• 癸（き）
There's a somewhat lengthy ...
15
votes
1answer
173 views
How did 革 “leather” come to mean newness?
How did the word 革{かわ}, 革{カク} "leather" acheive the meaning "newness"? 広辞苑 lists one of the definitions (under かく) as "あらたまること, あらためること", and we can see this in some of its associated 熟語: 変革, 改革, 革新. ...
7
votes
2answers
161 views
Origin/etymology of こころ～ words
There are three unique words that begin with こころ～:
快い （こころよい）、 試みる （こころみる）、 志 （こころざし）
What is the origin of these words in relation to "heart/spirit/mind", if any??? Or is this just something ...
5
votes
4answers
732 views
What is the etymological connection between sake (alcohol) and sha-ke (salmon)?
I read once somewhere that the word 'sake' (酒, Japanese rice wine) comes from sha-ke (鮭, salmon). Can someone explain what this connection is?
Any thoughts on why most Japanese people * don't know ...
