Translingual edit
Glyph origin edit
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sil) : semantic 禾 (“grain”) + phonetic 厶 (OC *sil) – private grain or field.
Displaced the original form 厶.
Pronunciation edit
Note:
- sai - vernacular;
- sir/su - literary.
Note:
- se1 - literary;
- sai1 - vernacular.
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) |
|---|
| Character | 私 |
|---|
| Reading # | 1/1 |
|---|
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) | sī |
|---|
Middle
Chinese | ‹ sij › |
|---|
Old
Chinese | /*[s]əj/ |
|---|
| English | private |
|---|
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;
* Period "." indicates syllable boundary. |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) |
|---|
| Character | 私 |
|---|
| Reading # | 1/1 |
|---|
| No. | 11949 |
|---|
Phonetic
component | 厶 |
|---|
Rime
group | 脂 |
|---|
Rime
subdivision | 1 |
|---|
Corresponding
MC rime | 私 |
|---|
Old
Chinese | /*sil/ |
|---|
Definitions edit
私
- self; personal; private
- 私人 ― sīrén ― personal
- 私有 ― sīyǒu ― private
- selfish
- 自私 ― zìsī ― selfish
- (Can we add an example for this sense?) (Classical, humble) first-person singular pronoun: I; me
- illegal or secret goods
- 走私 ― zǒusī ― to smuggle
- stealthily; secretly
- 私语 ― sīyǔ ― to whisper
- (obsolete) Used by women to refer to their sister's husband
- reproductive organs; genitals
- (Internet slang) Short for 私聊 (sīliáo, “to PM, to DM”).
Descendants edit
Compounds edit
Japanese edit
私
(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)
Readings edit
Compounds edit
Etymology 1 edit
Shift from watakushi below.[1][2]
This reading was already prevalent in early modern times, possibly around the mid-late Muromachi to early-Edo period.
Pronunciation edit
私 • (watashi)
- (polite) first-person singular pronoun: I, me
- 私はイギリス人です。
- Watashi wa Igirisu-jin desu.
- I am British.
Usage notes edit
Watashi is the usual polite term for referring to oneself.
Quotations edit
For quotations using this term, see Citations:私.
Coordinate terms edit
Japanese first-person pronouns
Japanese first-person pronouns by speakers and situations according to Yuko Saegusa, Concerning the First Personal Pronoun of Native Japanese Speakers (2009)
First-person pronouns by elementary school pupils (2008)| Speaker | Situation | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|
| Female | To friends | うち 49% | First name 26% | あたし 15% |
|---|
| In the family | First name 33% | あたし 29% | うち 23% |
|---|
| In a class | わたし 86% | あたし 7% | うち 6% |
|---|
| To an unknown visitor | わたし 75% | あたし, first name, うち 8% each |
|---|
| To the class teacher | わたし 66% | First name 13% | あたし 9% |
|---|
| Male | To friends | おれ 72% | ぼく 19% | First name 4% |
|---|
| In the family | おれ 62% | ぼく 23% | うち 6% |
|---|
| In a class | ぼく 85% | おれ 13% | First name, nickname 1% each |
|---|
| To an unknown visitor | ぼく 64% | おれ 26% | First name 4% |
|---|
| To the class teacher | ぼく 67% | おれ 27% | First name 3% |
|---|
First-person pronouns by university students (2009)| Speaker | Situation | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|
| Female | To friends | うち 39% | あたし 30% | わたし 22% |
|---|
| In the family | あたし 28% | First name 27% | うち 18% |
|---|
| In a class | わたし 89% | あたし 7% | 自分 3% |
|---|
| To an unknown visitor | わたし 81% | あたし 10% | 自分 6% |
|---|
| To the class teacher | わたし 77% | あたし 17% | 自分 7% |
|---|
| Male | To friends | おれ 87% | うち 4% | わたし, 自分 2% each |
|---|
| In the family | おれ 88% | ぼく, 自分 5% each |
|---|
| In a class | わたし 48% | 自分 28% | ぼく 22% |
|---|
| To an unknown visitor | ぼく 36% | 自分 29% | わたし 22% |
|---|
| To the class teacher | 自分 38% | ぼく 29% | わたし 22% |
|---|
Derived terms edit
See also edit
Etymology 2 edit
From Old Japanese 私 (watakusi).
A surface analysis suggests a compound term. However, no likely etyma are known.
- From first-person pronoun 我 (wa, “I, me”) + takusi: although the first element seems likely, the original meaning of watakushi was “private”, as opposed to “public”, with no first-person pronoun usage until the late 13th century.
- From wata + kusi: the only phonetic matches are 綿 (wata, “cotton; cotton batting”), 腸 (wata, “guts, one's innards”, likely derived from the “batting” sense), 海 (wata, “sea, ocean”) + 串 (kusi, “skewer”), 奇し (kusi, “magic, fantastic, supernatural”, adjective), 酒 (kusi, “alcoholic beverage”, likely derived from the “magic” sense), 櫛 (kusi, “comb”).
- From wataku + si: no such word wataku appears to exist.
- From wa + ta + ku + si: unknown.
The meaning evolved over time from “private” or “privatization”, to refer to things that are personal, to refer to one's own person, and then finally to serve as a generic first-person pronoun. The full form watakushi is still used in modern Japanese as a formal, highly polite first-person pronoun. The abbreviated form watashi is now the most common and neutrally polite first-person pronoun.
Pronunciation edit
私 • (watakushi)
- a personal or private matter
- (by extension) selfishness
- Synonyms: 自分勝手 (jibun katte), 私利私欲 (shiri shiyoku)
Derived terms edit
Derived terms
- 私する (watakushisuru)
- 私商い (watakushi akinai)
- 私雨 (watakushi ame, “sudden rain shower falling in just a small area”)
- 私戦, 私軍 (watakushi ikusa, “private feud”)
- 私銀, 私金 (watakushigane, “personal money, secret savings, financial nest egg”)
- 私事 (watakushigoto)
- 私戦い (watakushi tatakai, “private feud”)
- 私戯れ (watakushi tawabure, “chatting up a go-between or mediator, as an aside to the main issue being mediated”)
私 • (watakushi)
- (formal) first-person singular pronoun: I, me
Usage notes edit
Watakushi is the formal term, only used in certain circumstances, such as by TV announcers or public figures such as politicians. Conversely, it is too formal for casual conversation for men, where terms like 俺 (ore) are preferred.
Derived terms edit
Etymology 3 edit
/si/ → /ɕi/
From Middle Chinese 私 (MC sij).
私 • (shi)
- personal, private
- secret
Derived terms edit
Derived terms
- 私愛 (shiai, “favoritism, partiality; a secret love for a woman; the woman so loved”)
- 私安警察 (shian-keisatsu, “private police”)
- 私案 (shian, “private plan or proposal”)
- 私意 (shī, “personal opinion; bias; selfishness”)
- 私印 (shīn, “private sigil, signet, stamp, or seal”)
- 私印偽造 (shīngizō, “creating a copy of someone else's sigil to forge their stamp”)
- 私営 (shiei, “private operation, privately operated”)
- 私営鉄道 (shiei tetsudō, “privately-operated railway, private rails”)
- 私営田 (shieiden): in the Heian Period, fields used for large-scale private farming by powerful clans, rather than public farming by the state
- 私益 (shieki, “private or individual profit or gain”)
- 私謁 (shietsu, “audience with the emperor regarding a private matter; a private rather than public request”)
- 私怨 (shien, “private grudge, hatred, ill will”)
- 私恩 (shion, “favor or duty owed to an individual”)
- 私家 (shika, “one's own home; an individual's home, as opposed to the palace or an office”)
- 私家集 (shikashū): in the Edo Period and earlier, an individual's collection or anthology of poetry
- 私家版 (shikaban, “self-publishing, generally without profit motive and with limited distribution; private printing or private edition”)
- 私学 (shigaku, “individual's school of thought”)
- 私学校 (shigakkō, “private school”)
- 私学助成 (shigaku josei, “government subsidization of private education”)
- 私感 (shikan, “one's personal feeling about something”)
- 私間法 (shikanhō, “conflict of laws; private international law”)
- 私企業 (shikigyō, “private enterprise; privately-owned company”)
- 私記 (shiki, “private record of something”)
- 私擬-憲法 (shigikenpō, “privately drafted constitution”, more specifically the Japanese constitution created during 1880-1887)
- 私義務 (shi gimu, “duty or obligation arising from private law”)
- 私議 (shigi, “secret criticism, badmouthing; personal or private opinion”)
- 私教類聚 (shikyō-ruijū, Japan's oldest collection of moral instructions, written by Kibi Makibi in the 700s)
- 私業 (shigyō, “work done as an individual; work done for individual profit”)
- 私曲 (shikyoku, “unjust act committed solely to benefit oneself”)
- 私金 (shikin, “private money; money owned by an individual”)
- 私刑 (shikei, “punishment meted out by vigilante or mob justice”)
- 私恵 (shikei, “private favor”)
- 私経済 (shikeizai, “private economy: economic dealings between private individuals or companies”)
- 私計 (shikei, “one's own thoughts and opinions; one's own schemes or plans”)
- 私隙 (shigeki, “private discord”)
- 私権 (shiken, “private or personal rights”)
- 私見 (shiken, humble word for “one's own personal opinions”)
- 私語 (shigo, “whisper, whispering, private conversation”)
- 私交 (shikō, “personal or private friendship or socializing”)
- 私考 (shikō, “one's own personal thoughts”)
- 私行 (shikō, “private actions in one's own life; secret act; going out for personal reasons; sneaking out”)
- 私田 (shiden)
- 私稲 (shitō): in the Nara and Heian periods, rice plants owned by an individual rather than by the state
- 私法 (shihō)
私 • (shi)
- a personal or private matter
- selfishness
- privacy, secrecy
- (women's speech, obsolete) a brother-in-law
Derived terms edit
Etymology 4 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
Etymology 5 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
| 【あたくし】 | - [pronoun] more polite form of あたし (atashi)
|
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
Etymology 6 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
Etymology 7 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry: あし |
(The following entry is uncreated: あし.)
Etymology 8 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
Etymology 9 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
Etymology 10 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
| 【わい】 | - [pronoun] (dialect, Kansai, Kagoshima; or Internet slang) I, me (first-person pronoun, mainly used by males)
- [pronoun] you (second-person pronoun, used when addressing an equal or inferior)
- [particle] (dated or dialectal) A particle used in the end of sentences to indicate admiration or emotion. Slightly stronger than わ (wa).
|
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
Etymology 11 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
| 【儂】H | - [pronoun] (mainly Western Japan) I, me
|
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling (more common) of the above term.) |
Etymology 12 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
Etymology 13 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
Etymology 14 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry: わたい |
(The following entry is uncreated: わたい.)
Etymology 15 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry: わちき |
(The following entry is uncreated: わちき.)
Etymology 16 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry: わて |
(The following entry is uncreated: わて.)
Etymology 17 edit
| For pronunciation and definitions of 私 – see the following entry. |
|
| (This term, 私, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
References edit
- ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 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), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
Old Japanese edit
Vietnamese edit
