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Someone lights up a fire and tells the other person (reading from the situation) to get warm by the fire:

あたんなはれ

んなはれ is Kansai-ben for imperative なりなさい, but where does the first part come from?

Is it shortened from 暖かくなりなさい? If so why the second た of あたた is lost?

Or is it another verb/word? It looks more like a shortened あたりなさい, but this does not make sense to me in the context.

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  • I think that the ん is not actually part of the imperative auxiliary なはれ, which is a debuccalized (meaning /s/ becomes /h/) form of なされ; debuccalization is very common in Western Japanese, as in はん for さん. The ん comes from nasal assimilation before なはれ when the vowel /i/ of あたり is contracted, which moves /r/ into coda position, and by the coda constraint only ん and っ are legal in coda position; ん is chosen before nasals. So, あたり＋なされ＞あたんなはれ.
    – user1478
    Commented Jan 6, 2017 at 17:14
  • You are probably right, but I thought the official language on SE is English ;)
    – macraf
    Commented Jan 7, 2017 at 0:27

2 Answers 2

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The first part comes from 「当{あ}たる」, meaning "to warm oneself".

We say: 「火{ひ}に当たる」、「ストーブに当たる」 , etc.

You may have heard phrases such as:

「日当{ひあ}たりのいい部屋{へや}」 ("a sunny room")

「高{たか}いビルの北側｛きたがわ｝の日当たりの悪｛わる｝い家｛いえ｝」 ("a house on the north side of a tall building that gets little sunshine")

Finally, IMHO, all the important words are used in children's songs, not in J-pop or J-rock. Here is a song named 「たき火{び}」, in which this 「当たる」 is used multiple times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9wgi2SlsJA

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Just to clarify, I think you have things confused, あたん part does not come from 暖{あたた}かく, but as l'électeur 「当｛あ｝たる」. So there always only one 「た」.

Now onto the Kansai ben part or should I say mainly around Kyoto, 「何々しなはれ」 can be used like this,

食べなはれ　＝　食べなさい　＝　Eat

寝なはれ　＝　寝なさい　＝　Sleep

Using this 「なはれ」 表現 is a bit softer sounding than 「なさい」

This is different sort of Kansai ben, from a different region,

食べよし　＝　食べなさい　＝　Eat

寝よし　＝　寝なさい　＝　Sleep

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  • I am not sure what you want to say in your answer and why. You repeat the l'électeur's answer, which is complete and I don't think there is anything else to explain. How does the latter part relate to the question?
    – macraf
    Commented Jan 2, 2017 at 9:07
  • Examples for what? The question is: where does the first part of the phrase あたんなはれ come from. How do your examples explain this?
    – macraf
    Commented Jan 2, 2017 at 9:11
  • Nobody asked how to use なはれ. That's why I am pointing out your answer has nothing to do with the question.
    – macraf
    Commented Jan 2, 2017 at 9:15
  • @macraf, I think there's value in showing how the verb ending is used. Simply stating what it means does answer the letter of the question, but it leaves learning readers bereft of any clear indication of usage.
    – Eiríkr Útlendi
    Commented Jan 3, 2017 at 20:40
  • @EiríkrÚtlendi l'électeur gave clear examples in his answer:「火ひに当たる」「ストーブに当たる」. This "answer" does not give any example, simply states the above answer is correct. This post states only: (1) なはれ is used around Kyoto (what is the relation to the "getting warmer"-question?); (2) there is another form of imperative よし (this is blatantly unrelated). If you see value in not answering questions on StackExchange, good for you, I don't.
    – macraf
    Commented Jan 3, 2017 at 21:19

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