顔映し

Japanese

Kanji in this term
顔	映
Grade: 2	Grade: 6

Etymology

A compound of the noun 顔 and the adjective 映し. 顔, while /kao/ in modern Japanese, was historically /kaho/. When combined with 映ゆし, this became /kahahasi/. Due to historical phonological processes, medial -ha- changes into IPA^(key): [wa], thus changing /kaha/ into IPA^(key): kawa. However, hayushi is still recognized as a separate word and hence does not change into *wayushi.

Adjective

顔映し (-i inflection, hiragana かわはゆし, romaji kawahayushi, historical hiragana かははゆし)

1. One's face turns red.
2. To feel embarrassed. Have a guilty conscience.
   • c. 1120: Konjaku Monogatarishū 19.9

     然レドモ極テカハゝユク思エテ、此ノ事ヲ人ニ不云ズシテ耄ケ行ク程ニ

Usage notes

• Archaic.

References

1962 March 5 [c. 1120], Yoshio Yamada; Tadao Yamada, Hideo Yamada, Toshio Yamada, Konjaku Monogatarishū (Volume 4) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, ISBN 4-0006-0025-7: