おめでとう

Japanese

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おめでとー [òmédétóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [o̞me̞de̞to̞ː]

Etymology 1

/omedetaku/ → /omedetau/ → /omedetɔː/ → /omedetoː/

Originally a compound of 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 愛でたく (medetaku, “admirably, auspiciously”), from adjective 愛でたい (medetai, “admirable, auspicious”).

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.

Alternative forms

• 御目出度う, 御芽出度う, お目出度う, お芽出度う

Interjection

おめでとう • (omedetō) ^{←おめでたう (omedetau)?}

1. congratulations, congrats

Usage notes

Most often written in hiragana. May occasionally be seen spelled in kanji, generally for more formal writing. The kanji spellings are examples of ateji. Usually followed by ございます (gozaimasu, “it is”, formal) in less casual contexts.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• おめでとうございます (omedetō gozaimasu): congratulations
• 明(あ)けましておめでとう (akemashite omedetō): happy New Year
• 誕生日(たんじょうび)おめでとう (tanjōbi omedetō): happy birthday

Etymology 2

A pun on the congratulatory meaning of omedetō, using the common kanji spelling of 御目出 for the omede- portion and spelling the final -tō with the character 糖 (tō, “sugar”).

Noun

おめでとう • (omedetō) ^{←おめでたう (omedetau)?}

1. 御目出糖: a type of Japanese sweet made from rice and azuki bean paste, eaten at times of celebration

Further reading

• Japanese_language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Late_Middle_Japanese on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• ウ音便 ("u" sound shift) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja