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.
807
questions
3
votes
1
answer
92
views
how did 二段 verbs shift into 一段?
How was the process? i know that in 鎌倉時代, the 終止形 and 連体形 started to be used interchangeably + only the 連体形 form survived and replaced the 終止形.
But here is where i get lost, lets say the classical 下二段 ...
- 421
1
vote
1
answer
95
views
-た and -たり meaning and etymology
I have done some research on where the so-called past tense, the -た form, came from (after hearing that there is no such thing as conjugation in Japanese).
Through my research I read that it came from ...
- 107
0
votes
1
answer
133
views
What is the etymology of Saikoro (dice) and why is it written in katakana?
Recently I learned that the Japanese for dice is サイコロ.
The kanji is 塞子 which is Saizi in pinyin.
So the サイ part comes from 塞 but why katakana ?
子 is sometimes translated as こ so the コ must come from ...
- 2,400
2
votes
2
answers
86
views
Implication of Xがよい
I often see phrases of the form Xがよい (where X is a noun) e.g. 頭がよい, 仲がよい etc. In these examples the characteristic being described is desirable (clever, good relationship etc) so よい seems sensible.
I ...
- 28.5k
8
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why isn't there an actual Japanese word for "balcony"?
The Japanese word for "balcony" is a loanword of veranda - ベランダ (Beranda). Veranda is a Anglo-Indian word from Hindi varanda which came from Portuguese varanda and is extensively used in ...
- 201
1
vote
1
answer
96
views
Why does 色々 mean "various"?
I have been wondering why 色々 meant "various". I reckon that the archaic "various colours" meaning (as listed on Jisho) generalized to "various", but I wonder why (or how, ...
- 113
3
votes
1
answer
115
views
Why is 閉ざす the "-す form" of 閉じる when the classical form was kami nidan 閉づ?
This has really confused me for a long time. Considering the fact that the Classical Japanese form of the verb 閉じる is 閉づ, the expected reflex of 閉ざす should be *閉だす; 閉じる is actually etymologically 閉ぢる ...
- 695
1
vote
1
answer
76
views
The true meaning of お陰様で
In the past (or even today) were there certain people who, when saying お陰様で, actually believed and meant that their state of well-being was in fact due to people (or beings, whether they be ...
- 111
1
vote
1
answer
116
views
"て" in どういたしまして
I have read on other threads here (as well as on other pages online) that the て in expressions such as どういたしまして, 初めまして or あけましておめでとうございます was not the て-form but rather "a final particle used for ...
- 107
-1
votes
1
answer
161
views
Differences of words like 先輩 between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean?
I understand the history of Japan's origin coming from China, which is why Japanese involves Chinese characters. However, I recently realized that there are some words in Japanese that are actually ...
- 117
4
votes
1
answer
250
views
結構 etymology - from structure to quite
The word 結構 ([けっこう]{HLLL}), as in "結構幸せです", functions as either an adverb or an adjective, and it now means something like "quite" or "fine" (the "no thanks" ...
- 143
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Why does 安否 ("peaceful" + "negate") combine to mean "safety"?
Breaking the Kanji from down 安否 into their constituent meanings:
安: content, peaceful, quiet
否: negate
Question: Why would combining (e.g.) "peaceful" with "negate" result in a ...
- 2,177
3
votes
1
answer
121
views
Origin of 「セキ」 when used in game of go 碁
I have seen some sites attributing「セキ」to 関 as in:
https://jisho.org/search/%E9%96%A2
https://yuki19925704.com/igo-seki/ (scroll to section that talks about 囲碁の「セキ」の語源)
However, the classic term in ...
- 33
1
vote
2
answers
152
views
What is the "では" in "それでは"?
My teacher told me the "で" in "それでは" was not the particle "で", would that mean it is the same "では" as in "ではない" (aka the て-form of です)? If, so what is ...
- 107
0
votes
0
answers
47
views
What's the reason behind hiragana る in borrowed words like サボる,キレる? [duplicate]
Is there a rule on how words like サボる and キレる were written? Why not write it in full katakana? I am really interested on the reason why the る is in ひらがな and not in カタカナ。
I tried typing サボル in my ...
- 23
2
votes
1
answer
81
views
where does ~ない come from
what's the reason all negative verbs in Japanese ends with ない?
食べない
行かない
来ない
しない
is It related to あるverb? I am interested in knowing the origin
- 21
4
votes
1
answer
141
views
What is the etymology of 催{もよお}す?
What is the etymology of 催{もよお}す. Neither Wiktionary nor Daijisen give any information on the topic. Is there any connection to 押{お}す?
- 281
1
vote
1
answer
349
views
吉川線 (yoshikawa-sen) is translated as meaning "neck markings indicative of strangulation". What's the origin for this term (yoshikawa in particular)
To my knowledge, 吉川 (yoshikawa) serves only as a name. And yet, for some reason, 吉川線 ("yoshikawa lines" as it were) has the meaning of marks on the neck usually indicative of strangulation ...
- 706
1
vote
1
answer
95
views
Connection between phenomime じ and adverb じっ‐と?
じ(ーーーー...) seems to be a phenomime, a word which evokes the idea of the state 'staring'.
じっ‐と is an adverb meaning something along the lines of being still, quiet, focused at somebody or something, ...
- 467
0
votes
1
answer
140
views
Is there considered to be socio-cultural gender in japanese language and do job title variations exist?
Feminist linguistics partly revolve around a concept of with job titles associated biological gender.
In English and German one would associate the neutral word "doctor" with a man: it is ...
- 467
1
vote
1
answer
100
views
Why doesn't the て form of a verb connect to たい? [duplicate]
According to wikipedia, the て form is the result of sound changes that occurred when the 連用形 proceeded the particle て.
Historical
Contemporary
買いて
買って
打ちて
打って
知りて
知って
遊びて
遊んで
住みて
住んで
死にて
死んで
...
5
votes
1
answer
647
views
Etymology of くだらない
In the first episode of Death Note, the main character utters:
まったくくだらねえ
which means
Completely worthless
I'm assuming "くだらねえ" is the masculine-slang-negative of 下る, which means "to ...
- 2,177
4
votes
1
answer
110
views
What's going on in the word 同い年?
The word 同い年 is presumably related to the adjective 同じ. But what happened to the consonant in the root? I thought this might be an example of イ音便, but typically this happens to -k, -g only.
Is this ...
- 5,958
1
vote
2
answers
258
views
Does the concept of word families exist in Japanese?
In English, we would probably say that fortune, fortunate and unfortunate belong to the word family fortune. A Japanese analogy would most likely place 返{かえ}る and 返{かえ}す in the same language family. ...
- 281
1
vote
1
answer
129
views
What's the reading of kanji "入" in "入る", "hai" or "hairu"?
If I look up the word "入る" in a dictionary, it would tell me its reading is はい・る, but does that mean the kanji "入" is read as はい? If I look up the kanji in 漢字源, It's obviously ...
- 119
2
votes
1
answer
114
views
What's the origin of "さ", the nonsubjective (dunno how to call it nominalizer)
So, I know that the subjective nominalizer み comes from the imperfective/irrealis form of む, apparently the subjective particle that makes things into subjective verbs?? I just heard this on a website....
- 83
0
votes
1
answer
92
views
Dictionary or website with comprehensive word origin information
When I use an automatic Japanese text analyzer, it provides me with a list of words and also short information about what kind of word it is. Japanese (和), Chinese (漢), Foreign (外) or mixed (混). Is ...
- 281
1
vote
0
answers
65
views
Is there any practical use of the word 正{せい} meaning 10^40 (ten thousand undecillion) ? Where did it come from? [duplicate]
I came across this definition of 正{せい} and I can't fathom what purpose such a large number (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) could serve, it looks strange to me that there is ...
- 5,058
14
votes
3
answers
7k
views
1
vote
1
answer
185
views
Origin of 玉(たま) as a circular object
In Chinese, 玉 means jade or something beautiful/valuable. But in Japanese, it can mean a variety of other things such as a circular object, female entertainer, testicles etc. I'm curious as to when 玉{...
- 8,343
1
vote
1
answer
183
views
Why 厚かましい is not 厚がましい
I usually encounter adjectives of this form adj+がましい which means similar to adj+らしい based on my understanding. I recently discovered this word 厚かましい. I find it peculiar that it ends with かましい not がましい....
- 2,072
4
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Portuguese origin of particle -ね
The particle -ね matches somehow the Portuguese 'né' in form and use (as a request for agreement).
Since there is proven historical contact between Portugal and Japan and proven influx of Portuguese ...
- 321
1
vote
1
answer
208
views
Anyone has any idea why 狼狽 means "confusion/panic/consternation" when both kanjis are ways of saying "wolf"?
Basically, I'm asking if anyone knows of a possible etymological reason. Maybe it has to do with the ideogram itself, maybe it's a saying, but I'm not finding satisfying answers online.
Apparently, in ...
- 45
3
votes
1
answer
154
views
What is the etymology of [経緯]{いきさつ}?
The etymology of the word [経緯]{いきさつ}, in the sense of "the details of how something came to be" seems completely opaque.
Even on the Japanese internet, the only reference I can find is this ...
- 5,958
2
votes
3
answers
247
views
Is "先" an auto-antonym?
An auto-antonym is a word with multiple meanings (senses) of which one is the reverse of another.
So apparently the kanji meaning of this word is "previous" or "past". This seems ...
- 123
2
votes
2
answers
197
views
Do 待つ and 松 (matsu) have a shared etymology?
I saw a tweet that mused on the fact that ‘to pine for someone’ and ‘pine tree’ have the same pronunciation in Japanese, as in English. Is there any shared etymology here? The radicals look pretty ...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
233
views
What's the Etymology for using うち to mean "I"?
As some know, うち is another way to say "I" in Japanese, my tutor (and others) saying it's mostly used by younger women. My question is...how did this come to be? Because, I can't help but ...
1
vote
1
answer
122
views
How does じろじろ suggest staring?
What is the origin of the mimetic term じろじろ? As in じろじろ見ないでください。 How does jirojiro mimic or suggest someone staring?
This answer mentions how anime characters will literally say this, but does not ...
- 115
2
votes
0
answers
72
views
Are 操る, 釣る, 連れる, 移る and 吊る(つる) etymologically related?
These words, in addition to sharing a common sound (つる) are somewhat related in sense, perhaps through a derivation like to hang > to lure (for fishes) > to follow > to move >to manipulate,...
1
vote
0
answers
208
views
Detarame / 出鱈目 literal translation?
I recently encountered the Japanese phrase 出鱈目/デタラメ/detarame to mean... well, what we in English generally refer to as bull****. Which, the implications in the word from what it means is pretty ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
119
views
What is うれション a portmanteau of?
I recently came across the phrase うれション, referring to when a dog accidentally urinates out of excitement. Fairly obviously the first part is derived from 嬉しい, but what else comes together to form ...
user48874
1
vote
1
answer
118
views
Meaning, origin and "type" of 多き
I have come across 多き being used in combinations such as
恵み多き宝 or 恵み多き地.
I believe the correct reading is おおき. However, I was not able to find an explanation to the differences, e.g. to 多{おお}い.
Does ...
- 857
0
votes
2
answers
628
views
Does the "w" to mean laugh in Japanese have any relation with how the "w" could look like a laughing part of an emoji like "^w^"?
I know that in Japanese, text messaging the letter “w” is short for warau (笑う), which means “to laugh".
I'm curious if it has any relation to how the "w" could look like a laughing ...
- 123
3
votes
2
answers
150
views
Etymology of 打ち合わせる
How come 打ち合わせる means “to arrange a meeting” or “to agree on something”. I clearly see the 合わせる part signaling an agreement. Yet however I can’t see where the 打つ part became something other than “to ...
- 1,067
3
votes
1
answer
192
views
なさい and ください using い-stem instead of う-stem
I'm curious as to why these two verbs use their い-stem, instead of う like ます does after the い-stem and くれる/あげる/おく do after the て form. (I know the two are aru special class verbs.) Does this have to ...
- 127
5
votes
2
answers
599
views
Why is する's potential form できる?
Godan verbs have the potential form える, while ichidan verbs and 来る use られる for both the passive and the potential.
する also has the passive される, why isn't that or something like すれる used as its ...
- 127
4
votes
2
answers
347
views
Difference between「なんか」and「なんだか」?
What are some examples of their usage? Is なん the short form of 何【なに】 in both words?
Also, not sure if this is correct, but the だ in the middle of なんだか should be the copula. Why is the copula being ...
5
votes
1
answer
383
views
The は in the phrase そこはかとなく
I just came across the phrase そこはかとなく, which weblio translates as:
特にどこがどうと言うわけではないが、雰囲気として感じられる様子などを表す表現。
Expresses the idea of feeling something as a mood, and not for any particular reason.
This ...
- 5,958
0
votes
0
answers
67
views
Is there any continuity behind these verb endings?
In Japanese the seems to be a lot of reoccurring verb endings. Some basic ones are fairly easy to understand, like 動く vs 動かす, here it looks like あ plus す is used to indicate acting upon something ...
- 406
4
votes
2
answers
508
views
Why are segments of a TV show, etc., called コーナー？
I've heard the word used in phrases like 質問コーナー, but I haven't heard this usage of "corner" in English. Why is it used this way?
- 67