沢山

See also: 澤山

Japanese

Kanji in this term
沢	山
たく Grade: S (ateji)	さん Grade: 1 (ateji)
kan'on

Alternative spelling
澤山 (kyūjitai)

Etymology 1

First appears in The Tale of the Heike (c. late 12th century).

Origin unknown,^[1] kanji spelling appears to be phonetic ateji (当(あ)て字(じ))

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ta̠kɯ̟̊sã̠ɴ]
(Tokyo) たくさん [tàkúsáꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2]^[3] for adjective and noun senses
(Tokyo) たくさん [tàkúsáń] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[3] for adverb sense

Adjective

沢(たく)山(さん) • (takusan) ^†-nari

(Classical Japanese) many, numerous

Inflection

Classical conjugation of "沢山なり" (ナリ活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	沢山なら	たくさんなら	takusannara
Continuative (連用形)	沢山に^[1] 沢山なり^[2]	たくさんにたくさんなり	takusanni takusannari
Terminal (終止形)	沢山なり	たくさんなり	takusannari
Attributive (連体形)	沢山なる	たくさんなる	takusannaru
Realis (已然形)	沢山なれ	たくさんなれ	takusannare
Imperative (命令形)	沢山なれ	たくさんなれ	takusannare
Key constructions
Negative	沢山ならず	たくさんならず	takusannarazu
Contrasting conjunction	沢山なれど	たくさんなれど	takusannaredo
Causal conjunction	沢山なれば	たくさんなれば	takusannareba
Conditional conjunction	沢山ならば	たくさんならば	takusannaraba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	沢山なりき	たくさんなりき	takusannariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	沢山なりけり	たくさんなりけり	takusannarikeri
Adverbial	沢山に	たくさんに	takusanni

^[1]Without auxiliary verb.
^[2]With auxiliary verb.

Noun

沢(たく)山(さん) • (takusan)

much, many, a lot
enough, sufficient
- 1914, 夏目漱石 [Natsume Sōseki], chapter 45, in こゝろ [Kokoro], 下先生と遺書 [Sensei's Testament]:
  親類(しんるい)に相談(そうだん)する必要(ひつよう)もない、後(あと)から断(ことわ)ればそれで沢山(たくさん)だといいました。
  Shinrui ni sōdan suru hitsuyō mo nai, ato kara kotowareba sore de takusan da to iimashita.
  She also said there was no need to consult with relatives, that it would suffice to inform them after the fact.

Usage notes

In classical Japanese, used with なる (naru) to modify nouns:
沢山(たくさん)なる人々(ひとびと) ― takusan naru hitobito ― many people
In modern Japanese, used with the particle の (no) to modify nouns:
沢山(たくさん)の人々(ひとびと) ― takusan no hitobito ― many people

Synonyms

大(おお)勢(ぜい) (ōzei) (only for people)

Derived terms

沢(たく)山(さん)そう (takusansō)

Adverb

沢(たく)山(さん) • (takusan)

much, a great deal, liberally, a lot

Usage notes

Unlike many other adjectival nouns that have adverbial senses, 沢山 as an adverb omits the particle に (ni) when used before a verb. Compare:
Correct: ケーキを静(しず)かに食(た)べました。 ― Kēki o shizuka ni tabemashita. ― We ate cake quietly.

Incorrect: ケーキを静(しず)か食(た)べました。 ― Kēki o shizuka tabemashita. ― We quiet ate cake.

Incorrect: ケーキを沢山(たくさん)に食(た)べました。 ― Kēki o takusan ni tabemashita. ― We ate cake manily.

Correct: ケーキを沢山(たくさん)食(た)べました。 ― Kēki o takusan tabemashita. ― We ate a lot of cake.

Suffix

沢(たく)山(さん) • (-takusan)

more than enough

Derived terms

具(ぐ)沢(だく)山(さん) (gudakusan)
小(こ)沢(だく)山(さん) (kodakusan)
子(こ)沢(だく)山(さん) (kodakusan)
水(みず)沢(だく)山(さん) (mizu-dakusan)
盛(もり)沢(だく)山(さん), 盛(も)り沢(だく)山(さん) (moridakusan)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
沢	山
さわ Grade: S	やま Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
澤山 (kyūjitai)

First appeared in the Edo period.

Kun-reading of takusan above.^[2]

Alternative forms

多山

Adjective

沢(さわ)山(やま) • (sawayama) ^{←さはやま (safayama)^?}^†-nari

(joseigo, archaic) many, numerous

Noun

沢(さわ)山(やま) • (sawayama) ^{←さはやま (safayama)^?}

(joseigo, archaic) much, a lot

Derived terms

銀子(いんつう)沢(さわ)山(やま) (intsū sawayama)

Proper noun

沢(さわ)山(やま) • (Sawayama) ^{←さはやま (Safayama)^?}

a placename
a surname

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

“沢山”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

Anagrams

山(さん)沢(たく) (santaku), 山(やま)沢(さわ) (yamasawa)

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] 3.0 ^3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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