お年玉

Japanese

お年玉 on Japanese Wikipedia

Kanji in this term
年	玉
とし Grade: 1	たま > だま Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
御年玉

Etymology

From 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 年 (toshi, “year”) +‎ 玉 (tama, “ball; jewel”). Perhaps from the practice of offering balls of 餅 (mochi) to the gods in New Year.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) おとしだま [òtóshídámá] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [o̞to̞ɕida̠ma̠]

Noun

お年(とし)玉(だま) • (o-toshidama)

a red envelope
- 1988 July 30 [1985 July 25], Fujiko F. Fujio, “宇(そ)宙(ら)からのおとし玉(だま) [An Outta-the-Ballue Falltune]”, in 宇宙船製造法 [How to Build a Spaceship] (藤子不二雄少年SF短編集; 3), 6th edition, volume 3 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 10:
  
  かわったなあ、ミッちゃんも…………。手(て)をつないで学(がっ)校(こう)へかよったころもあったのに……。なにもかもかわっていくような気(き)がする。お正(しょう)月(がつ)さえも。たのしいことがいっぱいあったような気(き)がするなあ。すごろく、トランプ、たこあげ、お年(とし)玉(だま)…。
  Kawatta nā, Mitchan mo…………. Te o tsunaide gakkō e kayotta koro mo atta no ni……. Nani mo ka mo kawatteiku yō na ki ga suru. O-shōgatsu sae mo. Tanoshii koto ga ippai atta yō na ki ga suru nā. Sugoroku, toranpu, takoage, o-toshidama….
  Mitchan’s changed, too…. To think we used to go to school and back home, hand in hand…. It feels like everything’s changed now. Even New Year itself. There used to be a lot fun things to do. Playing sugoroku or cards, flying kites, collecting fortune money….

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ 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

[DJR-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[SMK5-2] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] 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

[1]

[2]

[3]