お前
Japanese
Etymology 1
Kanji in this term |
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前 |
まえ Grade: 2 |
kun’yomi |
Alternative spelling |
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御前 |
From 御 (o, honorific prefix) + 前 (mae, “front”), literally "honourable presence in front of me". Originally a polite pronoun applied to highly respected persons such as emperors or gods.[1][2]
First attested in the early 900s.[1]
Alternative forms
Pronoun
- [from early 900s] (informal, men's speech; or dialect) you
- 1915, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, 羅生門 [Rashōmon]:
- 己は檢非違使の廳の役人などではない。今し方この門の下を通りかゝつた旅の者だ。だからお前に繩をかけて、どうしようと云ふやうな事はない。
- Ore wa kebiishi no chō no yakunin nado de wa nai. Imashigata kono mon no shita o tōrikakatta tabi no mono da. Dakara omae ni nawa o kakete, dō shiyō to iu yō na koto wa nai.
- I am not an official of law enforcement, but simply a traveller who's happened to come across this gate a few moments ago. I'm not here to bind you in ropes or any nonsense of the sort.
- 己は檢非違使の廳の役人などではない。今し方この門の下を通りかゝつた旅の者だ。だからお前に繩をかけて、どうしようと云ふやうな事はない。
Usage notes
- Slightly condescending if used by a higher status peer to refer to a lower status peer, very informal between close equal-status peers; (very) impolite in other situations.
- In many Japanese dialects, it is rather the standard 2nd-person pronoun, equivalent in usage to standard Japanese あなた (anata).
Derived terms
- お前さん (omaesan)
Pronoun
お前 or お前 • (omē or ome)
References
- Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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