ようこそ

Japanese[edit]

Japanese phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

Etymology[edit]

/joku koso/ → /jou koso/ → /joːkoso/. From the adverb 良く (yoku, “well”) and the emphatic particle こそ (koso). The medial -k- drops out and the resulting -ou- elide into a long vowel (ウ音便 (u-obin, “u-euphony”)).

Pronunciation[edit]

(Tokyo) よーこそ [yóꜜòkòsò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [jo̞ːko̞so̞]

Adverb[edit]

ようこそ • (yōkoso)

welcome (greeting given upon someone's arrival)
日(に)本(ほん)へようこそ！
Nihon e yōkoso!
Welcome to Japan!

地(ち)球(きゅう)へようこそ！
Chikyū e yōkoso!
Welcome to Earth!

私(わたし)たちの家(うち)へようこそ。
Watashitachi no uchi e yōkoso.
Welcome to our home.
- 2001 August 27, Amano, Kozue, “Navigation(ナビゲーション)01(れいいち)　水(みず)の惑(わく)星(せい) [Navigation 01: The Water Planet]”, in AQUA(アクア) [AQUA], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Enix, →ISBN, page 10:
  
  水(みず)の惑(わく)星(せい)「ＡＱＵＡ(アクア)」へようこそ
  Mizu no Wakusei “Akua” e yōkoso
  Welcome to “AQUA”, the Water Planet

Usage notes[edit]

Usually follows へ (he, locative particle of a direction to an area, to), similar to "welcome to (an area)", or on its own.

References[edit]

^ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

[NHK-1] 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

[1]