つもり

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
積もり (rare) 積り (rare)

The nominative form of 積(つ)もる (tsumoru, “to intend”).

Suffix

つもり • (-tsumori) 

1. intend to, purpose of, plan to

   行(い)く積(つ)もりだ。

   Iku tsumori da.

   I intend to go.

   私(わたし)は彼(かれ)に電(でん)話(わ)するつもりだ。

   Watashi wa kare ni denwa suru tsumori da.

   I'm going to call him.

2. (After the past form of a verb) convicted to, believe to

Usage notes

• This word is usually written using hiragana alone (つもり) instead of kanji (積もり), as it is grammaticalized – compare みる (miru) (from 見る) and others.
• つもり cannot be used as a nominal – 「つもりは…」 (“The plan is…”) is incorrect. It is rather a suffix, 〜つもり.
  • For a nominal meaning “plan”, 企画 (kikaku) or other such words are used instead.
• 〜つもり has a different meaning when it follows a verb that is in the present-future (non-past, imperfective) tense – in which case it means “plan, intention” – and when it modifies either a verb in the past (perfective) tense, or an adjective, or a noun followed by 〜の – in which case it means “conviction, belief, impression, understanding”.
  • This latter usage is less-taught in textbooks; see Rubin reference for extended discussion. A humorous example use is, if asked 「アメリカの方ですか？」 (“Are you American?”) – and one in fact is – to reply 「アメリカ人のつもりですけど…」 (“Well, I was the last time I looked…”, literally “I believe that I am an American [but I’m not completely sure]”).

References

• “Tsumori and the Vanishing Beefsteak”, in Making sense of Japanese: what the textbooks don’t tell you, Jay Rubin, pp. 101–104

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• (appearing in standard Japanese dictionaries) つぶり (tsuburi), つむり (tsumuri)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨᵝmo̞ɾʲi]

Noun

つもり • (tsumori) 

1. (dialect, Kyūshū, Ibaraki) head

   Synonym: (standard Japanese) あたま (atama)

   • 1930, 雨森芳洲 (Amenomori Hōshū), “疾病”, in 交隣須知 (Kōrin suchi)‎^[3], 小倉文庫 edition, volume 1:

     頭(づ)痛(つう)　ツモリノイタム所(ところ)ニ木(き)枕(まくら)ヲヤメテフセ枕(まくら)ヲナサレマセイ

     zutsū tsumori no itamu tokoro ni kimakura o yamete fuse-makura o nasaremasei

     Headache: Stop using a wooden pillow and use a laid pillow, to the place where hurts in your head, sir.

     頭痛 머리 앏픈 ᄃᆡ 목침을 말고 슈침을 폐ᄋᆞᆸ소 (original Korean)