臍を噛む

Japanese

Kanji in this term
臍	噛
ほぞ Hyōgai	か Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
臍を嚙む (kyūjitai) 臍を噬む (rare)

Alternative forms

• 臍を食う (hozo o kuu, literally “to eat one's navel”)

Etymology

Phrase composed of 臍 (hozo, “navel, bellybutton”) + を (o, object particle) + 噛む (kamu, “to bite, to chew on”). Compare English chew on one's nails, nail biter.

First cited to a text from 852.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ho̞zo̞ o̞ ka̠mɯ̟]

Verb

臍(ほぞ)を噛(か)む • (hozo o kamu) godan (stem 臍(ほぞ)を噛(か)み (hozo o kami), past 臍(ほぞ)を噛(か)んだ (hozo o kanda))

1. (literal) to bite one's own navel
2. [from 852] (idiomatic) to worry about something that hasn't happened yet; to deeply regret something that has already happened
   • From the 吾妻鏡 (Azuma Kagami), early 1300s:

     なほ宥(ゆる)し沙汰有(さたあ)らんと欲(よく)するの処(ところ)、今(いま)自殺(じさつ)し畢(おわ)んぬ。後悔(こうくゎい)臍(ほぞ)を食(か)むも益(やく)無(な)し

     Nafo yurushi sata aran to yokusuru no tokoro, ima jisatsu shi owannu. Kōkwai hozo wo kamu mo yaku nashi

     They wanted to be forgiven and for the matter to be resolved, and now they've committed suicide and things are finished. There's no sense regretting it and chewing on your nails.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "臍を噛む" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	臍を噛ま	ほぞをかま	hozo o kama
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	臍を噛み	ほぞをかみ	hozo o kami
Shūshikei ("terminal")	臍を噛む	ほぞをかむ	hozo o kamu
Rentaikei ("attributive")	臍を噛む	ほぞをかむ	hozo o kamu
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	臍を噛め	ほぞをかめ	hozo o kame
Meireikei ("imperative")	臍を噛め	ほぞをかめ	hozo o kame
Key constructions
Passive	臍を噛まれる	ほぞをかまれる	hozo o kamareru
Causative	臍を噛ませる 臍を噛ます	ほぞをかませる ほぞをかます	hozo o kamaseru hozo o kamasu
Potential	臍を噛める	ほぞをかめる	hozo o kameru
Volitional	臍を噛もう	ほぞをかもう	hozo o kamō
Negative	臍を噛まない	ほぞをかまない	hozo o kamanai
Negative continuative	臍を噛まず	ほぞをかまず	hozo o kamazu
Formal	臍を噛みます	ほぞをかみます	hozo o kamimasu
Perfective	臍を噛んだ	ほぞをかんだ	hozo o kanda
Conjunctive	臍を噛んで	ほぞをかんで	hozo o kande
Hypothetical conditional	臍を噛めば	ほぞをかめば	hozo o kameba