お腹

Japanese

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
腹
なか
Grade: 6
irregular
Alternative spellings
御腹
御中

Compound of 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 中 (naka, “insides; innards, stomach”). Originally coined as a deliberately indirect 女房詞 (nyōbō kotoba, “woman's word”) for 腹 (hara, “belly, gut”).[1][2]

The use of the 腹 character to spell 中 (naka) appears to be a relatively recent shift; many dictionaries still list 御中 or お中 as the standard spelling for this term,[1][2][3][4] but usage trends clearly show that this お腹 spelling is now more common for the belly senses.

Pronunciation

Noun

お腹(なか) • (onaka) 

  1. belly, tummy, stomach, abdomen
Derived terms
Derived terms
  • お腹(なか)が空(す)く (o-naka ga suku): “one's belly becomes empty” → to become hungry
  • お腹(なか)を壊(こわ)す (o-naka o kowasu): “to break one's belly” → to become sick to one's stomach, to become ill in one's gut, such as diarrhea
  • お腹(なか)を痛(いた)める (o-naka o itameru): “to hurt one's belly” → to give birth

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
腹
はら
Grade: 6
kun’yomi

Compound of 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 腹 (hara, “stomach, belly”).[1]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [o̞ha̠ɾa̠]

Noun

お腹(はら) • (ohara) 

  1. (archaic, possibly obsolete, honorific) a person used as a form of mildly honorific indirect reference to someone
  2. (uncommon) one's mother, specifically one's birth mother
  3. (uncommon, honorific) someone's belly

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  4. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. 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
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