Talk:掛ける

{{attention|ten million definitions missing}} for 10+ years... polysemy is great :D —Suzukaze-c◇◇ 07:26, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Derivation

There appear to be a few roots *kak- in the language, from one of which this 掛ける arises.

• *kak-: "to catch or hang as one thing on another, to connect one thing to another"

Much as one kakeru-s a blanket on a bed, or a painting on a wall, or a sauce on top of a bowl of food, etc.

• *kak-: "to scratch; to write, to draw; to draw water"

Possibly an extension of the "to catch" sense. Possibly also the same root underling 鍵・鉤 "key/lock; hook" -- kagi in modern Japanese, but also appearing as kaki in some of the oldest texts.

• *kak-: "to break apart; to be missing, to be lacking"
• *kak-: "to rush about"

This first appears in the 1600s, as a sense development from "to be on horseback". The "on horseback" sense is probably derived from *kak- "one thing on top of another".

Considering semantic developments, I suspect we ultimately have two core terms:

• *kak-: "to set or hang or connect one thing on or to another; to catch one thing on another" → see also NKD entry. Shows up as both 下二段 and 四段 in the Nihon Shoki, with both appearing as 他動詞.
• *kak-: "to break; to miss, to lack" → see also NKD entry. Shows up as a 下二段活用自動詞 in the Nihon Shoki, then around 900 as a 四段活用他動詞.

ご参照までに。

‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │^{Tala við mig} 01:25, 17 December 2022 (UTC)