Nyōbō kotoba

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Nyōbō kotoba (Japanese: 女房言葉 or 女房詞, lit.'woman's words') was a cant that was originally used by Japanese court ladies during the Muromachi era, and subsequently spread and came to be thought of as a general women's language. It consisted primarily of a special vocabulary of words for food, clothing, and other household items.[1] Many of the created words were descriptions of the thing they were naming, whether that was a description of a characteristic, shape, color, or usage.

Many nyōbō kotoba words were formed by adding the prefix o- (), which indicates politeness,[2] or by dropping part of a word and adding -moji (文字, lit.'character, letter').

Some nyōbō kotoba passed into general usage and are today part of the standard Japanese language.

Examples[edit]

Nyōbō kotoba Meaning Source
ishiishi (いしいし) dango
okowa (おこわ) rice with red beans kowameshi (強飯)
okawa (おかわ) toilet kawaya ()
onaka (お腹) stomach naka (, 'middle')
onara (おなら) fart (n.) narasu (鳴らす, 'to sound')
okaka (おかか) dried bonito flakes katsuobushi (鰹節)
okaki (おかき) kakimochi (type of rice cracker) kakimochi (欠餅)
okabe (お壁) tofu shirakabe (白壁, lit.'white plaster wall')
okumoji (奥文字) wife okusama (奥様)
osatsu (おさつ) sweet potato satsuma-imo (薩摩芋, lit.'Satsuma potato')
odai (お台) cooked rice; food odai (お台, 'dining table')
otsuke (おつけ) clear soup broth, miso soup
onigiri (おにぎり) rice ball nigirimeshi (握り飯)
oman (お饅) steamed bun with filling manjuu (饅頭)
oyoru (御寝る) to sleep (v.) oyoru (お夜, 'sleep, rest (n.)')
kamoji () hair kami ()
komoji (こもじ) carp koi ()
shamoji (しゃもじ) rice scoop shakushi (杓子)
sumoji (すもじ), osumoji (おすもじ) sushi sushi (寿司)
make (まけ) menstrual period
naminohana (波の花) salt naminohana (波の花, lit.'crest of a wave')
nimoji (にもじ) garlic ninniku (大蒜)
hitomoji (一文字) spring onion
yumoji (ゆもじ) yukata (type of summer kimono) yukata (浴衣)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Nicolae, Raluca (2014). "An Historical Perspective on Women's Speech in Japanese". Journal of Research in Gender Studies. 4 (2): 236–250.
  2. ^ Ide, Sachiko (1982). "Japanese sociolinguistics politeness and women's language". Lingua. 57: 357–385. doi:10.1016/0024-3841(82)90009-2.