Talk:狼

Can please anyone who knows make a description of how to draw this kanji?

Etymology

Can an expert check the etymology of this word? As I understand it, this is a folk etymology and the word is actually not derived from 神 (kami "god") but rather the nominal 噛み (kami "bite") of the verb 噛む (kamu "to bite") so that the word ookami actually means "big bite". Jmolina116 (talk) 21:08, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

This etymology (from 大 (ō) + 神 (kami)) would seem to be well attested, and it is listed in numerous JA dictionaries, such as Shogakukan's 国語大辞典. -- Eiríkr Útlendi │ Tala við mig 00:17, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you. I guess I was misinformed. Though, I think "big bite" would've made more sense. Jmolina116 (talk) 01:21, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

That etymology is not even plausible. The final "mi" in ookami is /mi2/ (乙類), while the "mi" in kami "bite" is /mi1/ (甲類). These are phonologically distinct sounds. And of course, the final mi in kami "god" is /mi2/, which is expected. If you want to know more about this, I suggest reading up on 上代特殊仮名遣. Bendono (talk) 02:10, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Oh okay. Yeah that makes sense now. I hadn't noticed they were different phonemes at the end. I'll have to check that out then. Thanks for the recommendation. Jmolina116 (talk) 03:14, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Mandarin readings

Can it be added in which contexts the various Mandarin readings are used? 204.11.186.190 18:15, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

Done. There is only one reading. 204.11.186.190 16:30, 29 November 2016 (UTC)