生き甲斐

Japanese

Kanji in this term
生	甲	斐
い Grade: 1	か > が Grade: S	い Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi	irregular

Alternative spellings
生甲斐 生きがい

Etymology

Compound of 生きる (ikiru, “to live, to exist”) +‎ 甲斐 (kai, “worth, value”). The kai changes to gai as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いきがい [ìkígáí] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) いきが​い [ìkígáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ikʲiɡa̠i]

Noun

生(い)き甲(が)斐(い) • (ikigai) ^{←いきがひ (ikigafi)?}

1. A reason for living; one's purpose; raison d'être.

   生(い)き甲(が)斐(い)を見(み)つけたい。

   Ikigai o mitsuketai.

   I want to find my life's purpose.