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Questions tagged [folklore]

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29 votes
1 answer
2k views

Did ありがとう come from Portuguese "obrigado"?

I have heard before that ありがとう came from the word "obrigado" in Portuguese. Is this true and is there any evidence to support this, or is it an old wives' tale?
Jesse Good's user avatar
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26 votes
3 answers
3k views

How are 化け物, 妖怪, 幽霊, etc. related to each other?

In the past few years, reading light novels and the like, I have come across many different terms for ghosts, spirits, monsters, etc. in Japanese, and I'm wondering how they relate to each other. What ...
rintaun's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
360 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 ...
istrasci's user avatar
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