Japanese [ edit ]
Etymology 1 [ edit ]
Compound of だ ( da , the plain-form copula or "to be" verb ) + い ( emphatic particle , used in compounds with certain sentence-ending particles to create a familiar effect) .[1] [2]
Attested since at least 1809.[1]
Pronunciation [ edit ]
Particle [ edit ]
だい • (dai )
[from 1908] ( informal , men's speech ) an interrogative particle
どうしたんだい ? Dō shita n dai ? What’s the matter?
[from 1809] ( dated ) a particle used to state something with conviction
そんなのはいらねえってんだい 。 Sonna no wa iranē tte n dai . I don't need that stuff.
See also [ edit ]
Etymology 2 [ edit ]
For pronunciation and definitions of だい – see the following entries.
【第 】 3
[prefix] ordinal marker, often with affix 号
(This term, だい , is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)For a list of all kanji read as だい , see Category:Japanese kanji read as だい .)
References [ edit ]