けん

See also: げん

Japanese

Etymology 1

For pronunciation and definitions of けん – see the following entries.

【兼】S [conjunction] -cum-, concurrently, and; in addition [noun] doing two or more things at the same time [noun] holding two or more government offices at the same time [proper noun] a male given name 【件】5 [noun] case [noun] matter [noun] subject 【軒】S [counter] counter for buildings like houses 【剣】S [noun] a sword, especially one with a double-edged blade [noun] swordsmanship [noun] a bayonet [noun] (entomology) a stinger [noun] (entomology) an ovipositor [noun] a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”), with varying designs of double-edged blades [proper noun] a male given name 【県】3 [noun] a type of administrative district, including 43 of the 47 prefectures of modern Japan, Chinese counties, French departments, etc. 【腱】H [noun] (anatomy) tendon 【健】4 [proper noun] A male given name 【堅】S [proper noun] A male given name 【建】4 [proper noun] A male given name 【権】6 [suffix] right to do something, authority 【券】6 [noun] ticket, certificate [noun] bond, coupon [suffix] ticket, certificate 【圏】S [noun] a bounded area, a sphere, a region [noun] (mathematics) category

(This term, けん, is an alternative spelling of the above Sino-Japanese terms. For a list of all kanji read as けん, not just those used in Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji read as けん.)

(The following entry is uncreated: 間.)

Etymology 2

/kemu/ → /kem/ → /ken/

Shift from older けむ (kemu, auxiliary suffix for verbs indicating supposition about the past, including supposition about why something may have happened). This phonological shift was apparently already underway during the Heian period (794–1185).

Particle

けん • (ken) 

1. (Chūgoku, Shikoku, Kyūshū) because, since, so: presents the preceding clause as the reason for the following clause
   • 1940, 金史良(キム・サリャン) (Kimu Saryan) [Kim Sa-ryang], 玄海灘密航(げんかいなだみっこう) (Genkai-nada Mikkō)‎^[1]:

     じゃが今(いま)は内(ない)地(ち)も不(ふ)景(けい)気(き)でがして、屑(くず)屋(や)も駄(だ)目(め)じゃけん、内地(ないち)さ行(い)くなああきらめるがええ

     Jaga ima wa naichi mo fukeiki de gashite, kuzuya mo dame ja ken, naichi sa iku nā akirameru ga ē

     However the mainland economy is also in a recession now and waste collection business does not pay, so you should give up to go to the mainland.

Suffix

けん • (-ken) 

1. (Classical Japanese) Alternative form of けむ (kemu)