だけ

See also: たけ

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
丈

Derived from 丈 (take, “height, limit”). Usage as a particle appears after 1600, during the Edo period.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) だけ [dàkéꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [da̠ke̞]

• (Tokyo) Note: Generally, words that are Odaka become flat with の (の-particle deaccenting). However, the word だけ does not become deaccented with の and is still pronounced as:

• だけの
• Category:Japanese terms with Odaka pitch accent not deaccented before の (Tōkyō)

Particle

だけ • (dake) 

1. in a negative, limiting sense: only, just, limit

   Synonyms: ばかり (bakari), のみ (nomi), しか (shika)

   ローマ字(じ)だけの辞(じ)書(しょ)

   Rōmaji dake no jisho

   rōmaji-only dictionary

   • 1905, 夏目漱石 (Natsume Sōseki), 吾輩は猫である (Wagahai wa Neko de aru, “I Am a Cat”), Mōri Yasotarō (tr.):

     何(なん)ても暗薄(くらうす)いじめじめした所(ところ)でニャー／＼泣(な)いて居(ゐ)た事(こと)丈(だけ)は記憶(きおく)して居(ゐ)る。

     Nantemo kurausui jimejime shita tokoro de nyānyā naite ita koto dake wa kioku shite iru.

     All I remember is that I was miaowing in a dampish dark place

2. in a positive, non-limiting sense: amount, as much as

   Synonyms: ほど (hodo), くらい (kurai), 限り (kagiri)

   寝(ね)たいだけ寝(ね)ていい。

   Netai dake nete ii.

   You can sleep as much as you want.

   これだけしてるのに

   kore dake shiteru no ni

   Even though I'm doing as much as this / Even though I'm doing this much

Usage notes

The particle is exclusively written in kana in modern usage.

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of だけ – see the following entry.

【岳たけ】S [noun] a tall mountain [noun] a mountain peak [suffix] mount, mountain

(This term, だけ (dake), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as だけ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as だけ.