手前
Japanese
Etymology 1
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
手 | 前 |
て Grade: 1 |
まえ Grade: 2 |
kun’yomi |
Compound of Old Japanese elements 手 (te, “hand”) + 前 (mae, “front”), originally meaning “that which is just in front of one's hand”.[1][2][3]
Noun
Pronoun
- (dated, humble, men's speech) I, me (who stands before you)
- (rare, informal, sometimes derogatory) you
Etymology 2
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
手 | 前 |
て Grade: 1 |
まえ > めえ Grade: 2 |
kun’yomi |
Corruption of temae. The vowel shift emphasizes the confrontational sense of the term.[2][3] This flattening of diphthongs to monophthongs is characteristic of Tokyo's Shitamachi dialect. Compare おめえ (omē, from お前 (omae)), ねえ (nē, from ない), やべえ (yabē, from やばい (yabai)).
Usage notes
Usually spelled in hiragana as てめえ.
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
- Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- 2000, Jonathan Bunt, Gillian Hall, The Oxford Starter Japanese Dictionary, First Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
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