# 言葉
## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 言 | 葉 |
| こと Grade: 2 | は > ば Grade: 3 (ateji) |
| kun'yomi ||
* Alternative spellings
* 詞 辞

### Etymology

From Old Japanese 言葉 (ko$_2$to$_2$ba), attestable since at least the Man'yōshū of 759 CE. In turn, reconstructed as deriving from Proto-Japonic *kətənpa.
Compound of 言 (koto, “word”) +‎ 端 (ha, “edge; beginning, end”). The ha changes to ba as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
The term 言 (koto) was formerly the main term for word in Japanese. This term is also cognate with 事 (koto, “thing, fact, event”). The ha may have been added to differentiate from 事 (koto).
The 葉 spelling is an example of ateji (当て字).

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) ことば [kòtóbáꜜ] (Odaka –)
* IPA: [ko̞to̞ba̠]

### Noun

言(こと)葉(ば) • (kotoba)
* [from 759] a word, a term
** 1996 February 16, Yozaburo Kanari with Sato, Fumiya, “ファイル12(じゅうに)　蝋(ろう)人(にん)形(ぎょう)城(じょう)殺(さつ)人(じん)事(じ)件(けん)⑭(じゅうよん) [File 12: The Wax Model Castle Murder Case #14]”, in 金(きん)田(だ)一(いち)少(しょう)年(ねん)の事(じ)件(けん)簿(ぼ) [Young Kindaichi Case Files], volume 16 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN:
    その中(なか)に「レッドラム」という言(こと)葉(ば)が出(で)てくるんですよ！
       Sono naka ni “reddoramu” to iu kotoba ga dete kurun desu yo!
       It means the word “redrum” appears in there!
** 2003 October 17, CLAMP, “Chapitre(シャピトル).8(はち) 神(かみ)の宿(やど)る国(くに) [Chapitre 8: Homeland of the Gods]”, in ツバサ RESERVoir(レザヴォア) CHRoNiCLE(クロニクル) [Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle], volume 2 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN, page 78:
    耳(みみ)が変(へん)になったわけじゃない！でも　急(きゅう)に言(こと)葉(ば)が通(つう)じなくなるなんて⁉
       Mimi ga hen ni natta wake ja nai! Demo kyū ni kotoba ga tsūjinaku naru nan te⁉
       There’s nothing wrong with my ears, is there? How come all of a sudden I can’t understand a word they say!?
** 2016 July 22, “歓(かん)喜(き)する信(しん)者(じゃ) [Exultant Cultist]”, in 異界月 [Eldritch Moon], Wizards of the Coast:
    溺(でき)墓(ぼ)の寺(じ)院(いん)から流(なが)れる意(い)味(み)不(ふ)明(めい)の詠(えい)唱(しょう)の中(なか)から、ジェイスは言(こと)葉(ば)を一(ひと)つだけ聞(き)き取(と)った……「エムラクール」。
       Dekibo no jīn kara nagareru imi fumei no eishō no naka kara, Jeisu wa kotoba o hitotsu dake kikitotta……“Emurakūru”.
       Amid the gibbering chorus that rose from the drownyard temple, Jace recognized a single word…… “Emrakul.”
* [from 934] language, speech

#### Usage notes

* The alternative forms are used almost exclusively in compounds.

#### Synonyms

* 語(ご) (go)
* 言(げん)語(ご) (gengo)
* 単(たん)語(ご) (tango)

#### Derived terms

* 合(あ)い言(ことば) (aikotoba), 合(あい)言(こと)葉(ば) (aikotoba): a password or passphrase (spoken); a motto or slogan
* 東(あずま)言(こと)葉(ば) (azuma kotoba): any dialect of eastern Japan
* 遊(あそ)ばせ言(こと)葉(ば) (asobase kotoba): a polite mode of speaking, generally by women, that consists of suffixing verbs with the term 遊ばせ (asobase, the stem of the causative form asobaseru of verb 遊ぶ asobu, “to play; to hang out”)
* 遊(あそ)び言(こと)葉(ば) (asobi kotoba): a hesitation word
* 天(あめ)地(つち)の詞(ことば) (ametsuchi no kotoba): an instructional pangram used in the early Heian period, predating the Iroha
* 言(こと)葉(ば)遣(づか)い (kotobazukai): wording, word use

#### See also

* 言(こと)の葉(は) (kotonoha)

### References

* 1 2 “言葉・詞・辞”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
* 1 2 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ 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), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
   * 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.
   * Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
   * Kitahara, Yasuo, editor (2002), 明鏡国語辞典 [Meikyō Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten, →ISBN

## Okinawan
### Etymology

Kanji in this term :
| 言 | 葉 |
| くとぅ Grade: 2 | は > ば Grade: 3 |
* Alternative spellings
* 辞 詞 辭
From Proto-Ryukyuan *kotoba, from Proto-Japonic *kətənpa. Cognate with Japanese 言葉 (kotoba).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [kutuba]

### Noun

言(くとぅ)葉(ば) (kutuba)
* language; speech; lingo; dialect; way of speaking
* word; words; idiom; expression

### References

* “くとぅば【言葉・辞・詞・辭】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.