言葉

Japanese

Kanji in this term
言	葉
こと Grade: 2	は > ば Grade: 3 (ateji)
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
詞 辞

Etymology

From Old Japanese 言葉 (ko₂to₂ba), attestable since at least the Man'yōshū of 759 CE. In turn, reconstructed as deriving from Proto-Japonic *kətənpa.

Compound of 言 (koto, “word”) +‎ 端 (ha, “edge; beginning, end”). The ha changes to ba as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

The term 言 (koto) was formerly the main term for word in Japanese. This term is also cognate with 事 (koto, “thing, fact, event”). The ha may have been added to differentiate from 事 (koto).

The 葉 spelling is an example of ateji (当て字).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ことば [kòtóbáꜜ] (Odaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ko̞to̞ba̠]

Noun

言(こと)葉(ば) • (kotoba) 

1. [from 759] a word, a term
   • 1996 February 16, Yozaburo Kanari with Sato, Fumiya, “ファイル12(じゅうに)　蝋(ろう)人(にん)形(ぎょう)城(じょう)殺(さつ)人(じん)事(じ)件(けん)⑭(じゅうよん) [File 12: The Wax Model Castle Murder Case #14]”, in 金(きん)田(だ)一(いち)少(しょう)年(ねん)の事(じ)件(けん)簿(ぼ) [Young Kindaichi Case Files], volume 16 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN:

     その中(なか)に「レッドラム」という言(こと)葉(ば)が出(で)てくるんですよ！

     Sono naka ni “reddoramu” to iu kotoba ga dete kurun desu yo!

     It means the word “redrum” appears in there!

   • 2003 October 17, CLAMP, “Chapitre(シャピトル).8(はち) 神(かみ)の宿(やど)る国(くに) [Chapitre 8: Homeland of the Gods]”, in ツバサ RESERVoir(レザヴォア) CHRoNiCLE(クロニクル) [Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle], volume 2 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN, page 78:

     耳(みみ)が変(へん)になったわけじゃない！でも　急(きゅう)に言(こと)葉(ば)が通(つう)じなくなるなんて⁉

     Mimi ga hen ni natta wake ja nai! Demo kyū ni kotoba ga tsūjinaku naru nan te⁉

     There’s nothing wrong with my ears, is there? How come all of a sudden I can’t understand a word they say!?

   • 2016 July 22, “歓(かん)喜(き)する信(しん)者(じゃ) [Exultant Cultist]”, in 異界月 [Eldritch Moon], Wizards of the Coast:

     溺(でき)墓(ぼ)の寺(じ)院(いん)から流(なが)れる意(い)味(み)不(ふ)明(めい)の詠(えい)唱(しょう)の中(なか)から、ジェイスは言(こと)葉(ば)を一(ひと)つだけ聞(き)き取(と)った……「エムラクール」。

     Dekibo no jīn kara nagareru imi fumei no eishō no naka kara, Jeisu wa kotoba o hitotsu dake kikitotta……“Emurakūru”.

     Amid the gibbering chorus that rose from the drownyard temple, Jace recognized a single word…… “Emrakul.”

2. [from 934] language, speech

Usage notes

• The alternative forms are used almost exclusively in compounds.

Synonyms

• 語(ご) (go)
• 言(げん)語(ご) (gengo)
• 単(たん)語(ご) (tango)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 合(あ)い言(ことば) (aikotoba), 合(あい)言(こと)葉(ば) (aikotoba): a password or passphrase (spoken); a motto or slogan
• 東(あずま)言(こと)葉(ば) (azuma kotoba): any dialect of eastern Japan
• 遊(あそ)ばせ言(こと)葉(ば) (asobase kotoba): a polite mode of speaking, generally by women, that consists of suffixing verbs with the term 遊ばせ (asobase, the stem of the causative form asobaseru of verb 遊ぶ asobu, “to play; to hang out”)
• 遊(あそ)び言(こと)葉(ば) (asobi kotoba): a hesitation word
• 天(あめ)地(つち)の詞(ことば) (ametsuchi no kotoba): an instructional pangram used in the early Heian period, predating the Iroha
• 言(こと)葉(ば)遣(づか)い (kotobazukai): wording, word use

See also

• 言(こと)の葉(は) (kotonoha)

References

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.
• Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
• Kitahara, Yasuo, editor (2002), 明鏡国語辞典 [Meikyō Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten, →ISBN

Okinawan

Etymology

Kanji in this term
言	葉
くとぅ Grade: 2	は > ば Grade: 3

Alternative spellings
辞 詞 辭

From Proto-Ryukyuan *kotoba, from Proto-Japonic *kətənpa. Cognate with Japanese 言葉 (kotoba).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kutuba]

Noun

言(くとぅ)葉(ば) (kutuba) 

1. language; speech; lingo; dialect; way of speaking
2. word; words; idiom; expression

References

• “くとぅば【言葉・辞・詞・辭】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.