Japanese words of Portuguese origin

Japanese words of Portuguese origin

Many Japanese words of Portuguese origin entered the Japanese language when Portuguese Jesuit priests introduced Christian ideas, Western science and technology, among other things to the Japanese during the Muromachi period (15-16th century).

List of loanwords

Many of the first words which were introduced and entered the Japanese language from Portuguese and Dutch are written in "kanji" or "hiragana," rather than "katakana", which is the more common way to write loanwords in Japanese in modern times. "Kanji" versions of the words are "ateji", characters that are "fitted" or "applied" to the words by the Japanese, based on either the pronunciation or the meaning of the word.

The sign † shows that the word is a historical, extinct one.

Arigatō

It is often suggested that the Japanese word "arigatō" derives from the Portuguese "obrigado", both of which mean "Thank you," but this is demonstrably false. The Japanese phrase "arigatō" is a shortened form of "arigatō gozaimasu", meaning "Thank you". This is a form of an adjective, "arigatai", for which written records exist dating back to the Man'yōshū, well before Japanese contact with Portugal. [ [http://linguistlist.org/issues/12/12-1871.html LINGUIST List 12.1871, Sun Jul 22 2001 Sum: Origins of Arigato] ]

The full derivation is "arigatō" < "arigatau" < "arigataku" < "arigatashi" < "ari" + "katashi". The medial "-k-" drops out from "-aku-" resulting in /au/. This then becomes /oː/ via regular phonological rules. "Ari" is a verb meaning "to be" and "katashi" is an adjective meaning "difficult". The original meaning of "arigatashi" was "difficult to be", ie "rare" and thus "special". This derivation tries to stem the word to its structural meanings and does not consider the current word's sentimental development and appreciated meaning.

Superficial appearances notwithstanding, there is absolutely no linguistic relationship to the Portuguese word obrigado of the same meaning.

References

Notes

Other references

*sljfaq|portuguese|Japanese words of Portuguese origin

ee also

*Gairaigo
**List of gairaigo and wasei-eigo terms
*Japanese words of Dutch origin
*Nippo Jisho, the first Japanese dictionary in a Western language
*False cognate about Arigatō


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Japanese words of Dutch origin — The Dutch East India Company started trading in Japan from the factory of Hirado in 1609. In 1640, they were transferred to Dejima, and from then on until 1854 remained the only Westerners allowed access to Japan. Numerous exchanges occurred,… …   Wikipedia

  • Portuguese language — Portuguese português Pronunciation [purtuˈɣeʃ] (EP) [poʁtuˈges][1] (BP) [poɾtu …   Wikipedia

  • Portuguese Empire — Portuguese Empire …   Wikipedia

  • List of English words of Chinese origin — Words of Chinese origin have entered the English language and many European languages. Most of these were loanwords from Chinese itself, a term covering those members of the Chinese branch of the Sino Tibetan language family. However, Chinese… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Spanish words of Chinese origin — This is a list of Spanish words of Chinese origin. Some of these words have alternate etymologies and may also appear on a list of Spanish words from a different language.List*biombo= folding screen: from Portuguese biombo , from Japanese byōbu …   Wikipedia

  • List of English words of Sanskrit origin — This is a list of English words of Sanskrit origin. Many of these words were not directly borrowed from Sanskrit. The meanings of some words have changed slightly after being borrowed. NOTOC A; Aditya : from Sanskrit āditya , the Vedic sun god. [ …   Wikipedia

  • Japanese language — Japanese 日本語 Nihongo Nihongo (Japanese) in Japanese script Pronunciation …   Wikipedia

  • History of Portuguese — The Portuguese language developed in the Western Iberian Peninsula from Latin brought there by Roman soldiers and colonists starting in the 3rd century BC. It began to diverge from other Romance languages after the fall of the Western Roman… …   Wikipedia

  • Late Middle Japanese — 中世日本語 Spoken in Japan Extinct Evolved into Modern Japanese in the 17th century Language family Japonic …   Wikipedia

  • List of Japanese terms mistaken for gairaigo — This is a selected list of Japanese words that appear to be foreign borrowings (known as gairaigo in Japanese), but are in fact words with Japanese origins. This confusion can stem from a number of causes. Katakana are typically reserved for… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”