おはよう
Contents
Japanese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Originally a compound of 御 (o-, honorific prefix) + 早く (hayaku, “early”, adv), from adjective 早い (hayai, “early”).[1][2][3]
Modern Japanese -i adjectives formerly ended in -ki for the attributive form. This medial /k/ dropped out during the Muromachi period, both for the attributive form (-ki becoming -i) and for the adverbial form (-ku becoming -u). However, the adverbial form reverted back to -ku thereafter for most words, with the -u ending persisting in certain everyday set expressions, such as arigatō, ohayō, or omedetō, and in hyper-formal speech.
/ohayaku/ → /ohayau/ → /ohayoː/
Pronunciation[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Interjection[edit]
おはよう (romaji ohayō, historical hiragana おはやう)
Usage notes[edit]
Most often written in hiragana. May occasionally be seen spelled in kanji, generally for more formal writing. Usually followed by ございます (gozaimasu, “it is”, formal) in less casual contexts.[1][2][3]
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-501211-0
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
External links[edit]
Japanese_language#Late_Middle_Japanese on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Japanese_language#Late_Middle_Japanese- Late_Middle_Japanese#Adjectives on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Late_Middle_Japanese#Adjectives
- ウ音便 ("u" sound shift) on the Japanese Wikipedia.ja.Wikipedia:音便#.E3.82.A6.E9.9F.B3.E4.BE.BF
