木偶の坊

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Japanese

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Kanji in this term
Grade: 1 Grade: S ぼう
Grade: S
irregular on'yomi
Alternative spelling
でくの坊

Etymology

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Phrase consisting of 木偶 (deku, wooden puppet) +‎ (no, possessive particle) +‎ (, term of endearment). The deku portion is of unknown origin and may have arisen as a standalone term later than as a part of a compound. Theories include:

  • Alteration from (dekurubō), used synonymously, in turn from (dekuruibō), literally "little one who has gone mad".
  • From (te, hand) +‎ 傀儡 (kugutsu, puppet) +‎ +‎ , through dekurubō.
  • From Sino-Japanese 泥偶 (deigū, clay doll) +‎ +‎ .

The third theory is problematic semantically and does not account for the intermediary dekurubō pronunciation.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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木偶(でく)(ぼう) (dekunobō

  1. doll, puppet
  2. useless person
    (かれ)木偶(でく)(ぼう)すぎない
    Kare wa dekunobō ni suginai.
    He is no better than a fool.

References

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  1. ^ 語源由来辞典 Gogen Yurai Jiten
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  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