Questions tagged [etymology]

語源. The study of the origin of words and the historical development of their meanings. Sometimes used for kanji as well; we currently don't have a separate tag for character origins.

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What is the etymology of パイセン?

As a slang term for [先輩]{せんぱい}, パイセン doesn't seem to be very popular. I occasionally hear it used among young people. Is it mostly a term used in Tokyo (dialectal)? Where did it come from? My ...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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2 votes
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〜く+あります inflections?

In this post, it was verified that indeed the origin of the い-adjective ending 〜かった stems as a fusion of the ending 〜く and the inflection あった of ある (that is, 〜かった comes from 〜くあった). This makes me ...
Trevor Kafka's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

Origin of 〜かった?

Is it by any chance the case that, historically, the い-adjective ending 〜かった is a contraction originating from 〜くあった, where あった is the past inflection of ある? To me, it sure sounds plausible, and ...
Trevor Kafka's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
202 views

Meaning and etymology of phrase or interjection いよっしゃあ?

Lately I have been watching a lot of streams and videos of Persona 5 The Royal, which has only released in Japanese. One character in that game very frequently exclaims "いよっしゃあ{LLHHHH}", "iyosshaa", ...
Saklas's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
392 views

What is the etymology of 迷信?

I was curious to see that the word for "superstition", 迷信{めいしん} contains a character meaning lost, perplexed, or astray. Given that Japan and China both have a history of religious belief, I found the ...
Lou's user avatar
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15 votes
3 answers
4k views

Does the on'yomi of 輪 (リン) have any relation to the English "ring", or is it a coincidence?

Is there an etymological connection between 輪{リン} as in 車輪{しゃりん} and "ring" in English? Or is this a false cognate?
Lou's user avatar
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2 votes
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Why do the names of some Japanese prefectures contain 『しま』when, clearly, they are not island prefectures? [duplicate]

Why do the names of some Japanese prefectures contain 『しま』when, clearly, they are not island prefectures? For example, 広島 means "spacious/vast island," doesn't it? However, Hiroshima is not an island....
Enguroo's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
1k views

The French language, furansugo vs futsugo

I've always used ''furansugo'' to express the French language. But I've noticed another word, namely ''futsugo'' which also means French. My guess is that ''furansugo'' is used in normal speech ...
Kantura's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
601 views

Why is はじめ written with the kanji 初 as opposed to 始 to convey "the beginning"?

I frowned upon my textbook when I saw the word 初【はじ】め (the beginning) for the first time (no pun intended). The reason is that so far, I understood the idea of "start" is conveyed by 始, ...
jarmanso7's user avatar
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Native Japanese vocabulary, pure Wago/Yamato Kotoba

Can you still speak Japanese while avoiding to use most Chinese loan words? The native portion of the Japanese language is called Yamato Kotoba or Wago, but how fluent could you still be without the ...
unknown_person_1000's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Does the Japanese expression ''peko peko'' come from the English word ''peckish''?

I just learned that ''I'm hungry'' is : Onaka suita but can also be : Onaka peko peko I noticed that the ''peko peko'' was written in katakana. Does it come from ''peckish'' ?
Kantura's user avatar
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17 votes
3 answers
4k views

Is 写真 an onomatopoeia?

Is 写真, the word for photograph, in any way a form of onomatopoeia? That is to say, is it at all based on the sound of taking a photo? I'm aware of the meanings of 写 and 真, but when said aloud I ...
Zach Schroeder's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
377 views

What is the origin of っこない?

There's a construction V+っこない which means something like "have no way of doing V". お前には分かりっこないでしょう。 There's no way you would understand. Is it known what this construction originates from? ...
jogloran's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
598 views

What is the etymology of とある?

ある ‘some’ is an obvious rentaikei of the verb 有り, ‘to exist’, and its emergence as a pronominal is due to the kanbun influence of Chinese 有 ɦuwX ‘same’ (Zisk, M. (2018). Middle Chinese Loan ...
Alexander Z.'s user avatar
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1 answer
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Why does 「お帰りなさい」 mean "welcome home"?

As far as I know 「なさい」 is the imperative form of 「なさる」. So why does 「お帰りなさい」 mean "welcome home"? Wouldn't it mean something like "please return"? If it was just 「お帰り」, I could understand it as a mean ...
E. Matsunaga's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
299 views

Is there an etymological connection between 奇数 in Japanese and "odd number" in English?

I couldn't find any etymological information about 奇数{きすう} online. I found it interesting that it has the characters for "strange/odd" and "number", and wondered if it was influenced by English, or if ...
Lou's user avatar
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1 answer
1k views

What is the etymology behind 彼氏(彼) and 彼女 meaning boyfriend/girlfriend?

So according to Can someone break down かのじょ and かれ for me? it seems that 彼 and 彼女 are words that only came to mean "he"/"she" due to the influence of the West. But I'd like to know a bit more about ...
Ringil's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
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How did 象【しょう】 ( ≈かたち、 すがた、ようす) and 象【ぞう】 (どうぶつ) get to be written with the same kanji?

How did each term come to be represented by the same kanji 「象」? I assume there's no connection between both meanings beyond sharing the same kanji because they look so different to me, but I'm not ...
jarmanso7's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
595 views

Why is the term for can as in ''aluminum can" written in kanji?

I noticed that the term "can" is written with a kanji term but pronounced as in English. Why use a kanji? The word coffee has a kanji, but is commonly written in katakana. It might be ateji, but I ...
Jack Bosma's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
89 views

How does ジャンケンポン become the meaning for the rock paper and scissors game? [duplicate]

It's the term used for the rock, paper and scissors game. I have also heard the term kai bai bo/bou used. Which term is correct? Kai bai bo/bou sounds Chinese. How does jyankenpon and kai bai bo/bou ...
Jack Bosma's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
311 views

Why do Latin letters have English pronunciations in Japanese?

The Latin letters A–Z are used in Japan today and they each have a name just like in English. Take the first five Latin letters, A–E. Source: https://jisho.org A 【エイ】【エー】 B 【ベー】【ビー】 C 【シー】 D【ディ】【ディー】 ...
Christer's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
659 views

What's the connection between a spoon (匕) and the old age (⺹)? (Kanji: 老)

I was studying some radicals and I found this: ⺹ (old, old-age) and this: 匕. But why this: 老 (old + spoon) means "old man, old age, grow old"?? Do Japaneses think a spoon can make you older in a ...
Francesco Beati's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
228 views

How's ちゃわなきゃ working in this sentence?

I have a question about the usage of ちゃわなきゃ with 寝る in the following sentence, 先週みたいに途中に寝ちゃわなきゃいいけど。 I believe that the ちゃ is for things that must not be done, but I have no clue what わなきゃ is doing ...
UCProgrammer's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why is a fountain pen called 万年筆?

I am curious about the etymological history of 万年筆{まんねんひつ}, whose actual meaning is a fountain pen in Japanese. If we separate the kanjis we have : 万{マン}: ten thousand 年{ネン}: years 筆{ヒツ}:...
blaoi's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
823 views

Why are the kanji for suika and kabocha written with the kanji for west and south?

I was able to translate as west melon and south melon. The melon part makes sense, but why were directions used? I saw the sui (water) kanji for watermelon, but it is no longer used.
Jack Bosma's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
433 views

What is the etymology of the term “特定厨”? [duplicate]

For those of you who have never heard of the term “特定厨”, please allow me to explain. According to Weblio, there are two definitions: person who identifies someone's private information (esp. ...
Micheal Gignac's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
164 views

爵 how do the 'elements' combine to result in 'baron'

The 4 elements of this japanese kanji are understood, but I cannot see/intuit any connection between them that might result in the concept of 'baron'. Can anyone shed some light on this mystery?
murlin's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Origin of japanese metasyntactic variables 「ほげ」

Metasyntactic variables are using in programming as placeholders. Wikipedia mentions several Japanese words used in this fashion, and I would like to know how they came about. ほげ - hoge ぴよ - piyo ふが -...
oxr463's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Does the word for squid (ika) come from another language?

My book lists a number of kinds of fishes and sea creatures. The names are given in hiragana for all except that for squid for which it is given in katakana. イカ Does the word ika come from another ...
Kantura's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
2k views

られる honorific/polite versus passive origin

Is the られる used as a honorific (some sources use "polite", but I assume it's a honorific?) related to the passive form (perhaps it's alternative usage) or is it something that emerged separately? (...
NoxArt's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
336 views

Etymology of 急須

A 急須 (kyūsu) is a teapot. If you are really thirsty you may feel an urgent need for one, but otherwise the etymology is not self-evident. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/急須#Japanese lacks etymological ...
Mathieu Bouville's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is reasonable to assume that the 食 in 月食/日食 can be interpreted as the sun/moon being "eaten" during an eclipse?

So I'm quite new to Japanese, and I'm having a blast being able to understand some basic compound words based on individual kanji, and in some cases the process is quite straightforward. However, I ...
JPB's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
493 views

What is the etymology of あした?

I speak Chinese as well as Japanese. In Chinese, the etymology for 明天 and 明日 are the same in written Chinese and spoken Chinese. This got me curious about the etymology in Japanese. In written ...
Karandora's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
483 views

Origin of words for eating manners

What is the cultural/religious origin of itadakimasu and gochisosama?
JKL's user avatar
  • 21
1 vote
1 answer
341 views

What's the origin of the title 親王?

As far as I know, prior to the adoption of the title "Emperor" in ancient China by Shihuangdi (who claimed to be the first 皇帝 (huangdi), from the titles of 8 ancient godly beings), 王 was the sole ...
Vun-Hugh Vaw's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
146 views

Understanding the connection between adverbs and adjective negation

い-adjectives negate in the following way. 「大{おお}きい」→「大きくない」 How I've always interpreted process is that we're basically changing the adjective 「大きい」 into the adverb form 「大きく」 and then tacking on 「...
Trevor Kafka's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
389 views

Is there a common etymology for the kanji 巳 and 己 and 已?

The three characters 巳 and 己 and 已 are visually very similar, but do they have a common etymology or any overlap in terms of semantic content? Any information would be appreciated.
kandyman's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
62 views

Why do so many kanji for body parts have the radical 「月」? [duplicate]

What is the etymological reason for words like 胸, 肘, 腹, 腕, and 脚 to have 月? Is it phonetic at all or does it contribute meaning?
jacoballens's user avatar
  • 1,551
3 votes
1 answer
358 views

Origin of こんな, そんな, あんな and どんな

I wondered why こんな, そんな, あんな and どんな can be used prenominally without any particles. Due to the lack of a proper etymology dictionary in my possession (a recommendation would be appreciated), I came ...
Kaskade's user avatar
  • 1,587
7 votes
1 answer
422 views

で in the copula である

I have always wondered where the で in ~である (and ~でございます) comes from. In the answer to the question 「です」, what is it really? Is my analysis correct?, Eiríkr Útlendi states that the で in ~である is the ...
Kaskade's user avatar
  • 1,587
0 votes
2 answers
3k views

Why is 'no smoking' 禁煙, whereas 'to smoke' is 吸う?

Why is 'no smoking' [禁煙]{きんえん} (lit. 'smoke is prohibited'), whereas 'to smoke' is [吸]{す}う (lit. 'to inhale (smoke)')? In English (and some other languages), the verb 'to smoke' is related to the noun ...
Mathieu Bouville's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
163 views

Elongated お in the volitional verb form

In native Japanese words (that I know of at least) like 通り and 大きい, to elongate the お-sound, another お is added when written in Hiragana (instead of う like in Sino-Japanese words). However, it just ...
Kaskade's user avatar
  • 1,587
-2 votes
2 answers
445 views

Why would parents ever want to name their daughters with the following names?

During my studying via Kanji Study app I came across the kanji for the word, pardon my French, vagina. Of course, I was curious whether the names with the kanji existed. "Nah," I thought. "There is no ...
exulansis's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
147 views

Etymological connection between 戻る and 元

It just crossed my mind that both 戻る and 元 sound really similar. The Japanese Wiktionary page on 戻る even lists its first definition as "元の場所に帰る". Consonants becoming voiced also seems to be common in ...
Kaskade's user avatar
  • 1,587
5 votes
4 answers
766 views

Kanji etymology of 毎?

what does 母 have to do with 毎? is there any link at all or did it come together randomly? does it have to do with the Chinese pronunciation?
jacoballens's user avatar
  • 1,551
3 votes
1 answer
200 views

What is the etymology of タマ in タマを取る?

It seems that when spoken by/in regards to Yakuza, the phrase タマを取る means to take someone's life. However, I've seen some explanations saying タマ comes from 頭{あたま} and others say that it comes from 魂{...
Ringil's user avatar
  • 8,514
4 votes
1 answer
557 views

Where does っぱい derive from?

As it says in the title, I'm hoping to find out where the adjective ending -っぱい comes from (like in 酸っぱい 'sour'). Is it related to -っぽい (X-like, X-ish) at all? I can't seem to find an etymology for it ...
LinguistCat's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
873 views

Why the difference in metal between 銀行 and お金?

Money seems to be about gold but banks about silver. Is this due to an evolution of the status of the valuable metals themselves? Is it a complicated (e.g. ateji) etymology?
Mathieu Bouville's user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
928 views

Etymology of 見舞い

Visiting someone in hospital clearly involves seeing that person. But dancing? Does 舞 have some other, relevant meaning? Did it pertain to a traditional, sacred dance for health? Or is this ateji?
Mathieu Bouville's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
350 views

What is the origin of 落第?

I see how 落 can be a failure. But how is 第 relevant to failing an exam, is this a meaning other than 'number, -th' or implicitly falling below first place?
Mathieu Bouville's user avatar

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