可愛い - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

/kawajui/ → /kawaiː/

Shift in pronunciation from kawayui below.[1]

The kanji spelling 可愛い is an example of ateji (当て字), and uses an irregular reading of 愛. The phonological resemblance to Chinese 可愛 / 可爱 (kě'ài, “lovable”, Mandarin kě'ài, Min Nan khó-ài) is coincidental. Note that the medial -w- here is not an excrescence added between ka (可) and ai (愛), since the word is not formed from these morphemes.

Already realized phonetically as /kawaiː/ by the early 1600s, and possibly found alongside older form kawayui, as seen in the 1603 edition of the Nippo Jisho.[2]

• (informal, cutesy) かあいい (kāii), きゃわいい (kyawaii)

• (slang) カワユス (kawayusu), かわE(いい) (kawaii)

• (Tokyo) かわいい [kàwáíꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])[3][4]

• IPA(key): [ka̠β̞a̠ii]

• Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「可愛い」

可(か)愛(わい)い • (kawaii) ←**かはいい** (kafaii)?-i (adverbial 可(か)愛(わい)く (kawaiku))

1. lovable, beloved
   可(か)愛(わい)い子(こ)には旅(たび)をさせよ
   kawaii ko ni wa tabi o saseyo
   spare the rod and spoil the child
   (literally, “send your beloved child on a journey”)
2. cute, adorable
   Synonyms: (Tōhoku, Hokkaido) めんこい, (Tsugaru) めごい
   かわいい子(こ)と付(つ)き合(あ)う
   kawaii ko to tsukiau
   to go out with (date) a cute girl
   食(た)べちゃいたいくらい可愛(かわい)い
   tabechaitai kurai kawaii
   so cute I could just eat you up
   • 暴(あば)れなきゃ可(か)愛(わい)い顔(かお)なんだよな
     Abarenakya kawaii kao na n da yo na
     Her face when she’s not mad is actually pretty cute.
   • 私(わたし)なんかより藤(ふじ)原(わら)さんの方(ほう)が可(か)愛(わい)いですよ
     Watashi nanka yori Fujiwara-san no hō ga kawaii desu yo
     Fujiwara's more cute than I am.
     可(か)愛(わい)さと綺(き)麗(れい)さは別(べつ)物(もの)だろ
     Kawaisa to kireisa wa betsumono daro
     Cuteness and beauty aren't the same now, are they?

• Often spelled in hiragana.

• 可(か)愛(わい)そう, 可(か)哀(わい)相(そう), 可(か)哀(わい)想(そう) (kawaisō): pitiful, pitiable, poor, sad
• 可(か)愛(わい)がる (kawaigaru): to think that someone or something is cute, to be sweet on someone or something
• 可(か)愛(わ)い気(げ) (kawaige): cuteness, lovableness
• 可(か)愛(わい)らしい (kawairashii): cute-like, cute-looking
• 可(か)愛(わい)くない (kawaikunai)

From classical Japanese /kawo hajuɕi/ → /kawajui/.

A contraction of classical 顔映し (kawahayushi, “embarrassing, shameful”). The meaning underwent an ameliorative semantic shift from shameful to evoking pity, to evoking compassion, and then to lovable.[1] The kanji spelling appears to be jukujikun (熟字訓), from the above reading. Compare Korean 예쁘다 (yeppeu-da), which originally meant poor (as in "poor, poor kid") but now means pretty.

• (Tokyo) かわゆい [kàwáyúꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])[3]
• IPA(key): [ka̠β̞a̠jɯ̟i]

可愛(かわゆ)い • (kawayui) ←**かはゆい** (kafayui)?-i (adverbial 可愛(かわゆ)く (kawayuku))

1. embarrassed, having a guilty conscience: see 顔映し (kawahayushi).
2. (obsolete) pitiable, pitiful
   • 1632, Diego Collado, Dictionarium sive thesauri linguae Iaponicae compendium
     Miſerabilis, e: coſa que cauſa laſtima, cavaij.
     (Latin:) Wretched; (Spanish:) thing that causes pity, kawaii.
     _Miſerabilis, e: coſa que cauſa laſtima, cavaij.
     (Latin:) Wretched; (Spanish:) thing that causes pity, kawaii.
     (please add an English translation of this quotation)
3. lovable, adorable, cute

• 可愛(えの)岳(だけ) (Enodake)

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. ^ 1603, Nippo Jisho (in Portuguese), relevant text here. Left-hand column, third entry down, listed as Cauaij.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
4. ^ 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