あなた

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Japanese

Alternative spellings
貴方
彼方
貴女
貴男

Etymology

Compound of (a, distal pronoun marker, indicating something far away from both speaker and listener; also found in あれ (are, that, far away), あそこ (asoko, there, far away), etc.) +‎ (na, possessive, ancient compounding alternative for particle (no)) +‎ (ta, direction, side, place, only found in ancient terms).[1]

Originally meant that direction, that side, that place (far away), in contrast to そなた (sonata, that direction, that side, that place (closer to the listener)), こなた (konata, this direction, this side, this place (close to both listener and speaker)), and どなた (donata, which or what direction, side, or place). Appears with this sense at least as early as the Kokin Wakashū of the late 900s,[1] and the Kagerō Nikki of 974 CE.[2]

The indirect and polite sense of that person is also evident in texts from the late 900s, including the Ochikubo Monogatari.[1]

The sense of you as a polite and indirect form of reference appears in texts from around the 1750s.[1]

Pronunciation

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  • The you and that person senses only ever have pitch accent 2. The that direction or side sense may have either pitch accent, with pitch accent 1 more common.

Pronoun

あなた (anata

  1. 貴方, 貴女, 貴男: you (second-person pronoun)
    1. 貴女: (to a female) you
    2. 貴男: (to a male) you
  2. 貴方: (women's speech) dear, darling, sweetheart (term used by a wife to address her husband)
  3. 貴方, 彼方: (uncommon) that person (far from both speaker and listener)
  4. 彼方: (uncommon) that direction, that side, that place (far from both speaker and listener)
    (やま)彼方(あなた)
    yama no anata
    that side of the mountain, the far side of the mountain

Usage notes

The you sense is spelled most often in hiragana in modern usage. The 貴方 spelling is gender-neutral. Alternative spellings include 貴女 when referring to females and 貴男 when referring to males.

あなた (anata) is the most neutral second-person singular pronoun. If names or titles are known, these are used more commonly when addressing people.

Derived terms

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ^ 974, Kagerō Nikki (“The Mayfly Diary”), by Michitsuna's mother (in Japanese), text available online here