# うまい
## Japanese
### Etymology 1

* Alternative spellings
* 上手い 巧い 美味い 旨い 甘い 味い (rare) 美い (rare) 甘美い (rare)
From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE. Sometimes reconstructed as Proto-Japonic *uma.
The ultimate derivation remains unclear. The term occasionally appears in texts from the Heian period (794–1185 CE) with the phonetic spelling mumashi (in the classical terminal form), suggesting a possible pronunciation of */mmasi/ with an emphasized initial /mm/ sound, similar to the reconstructed readings for 馬 (*mma, “horse”) and 梅 (*mme, “plum”). The resulting reconstructed adjective stem of *mma- could indicate a derivation from onomatopoeia; compare English mmm as an expression of approval for something tasty.
Alternatively, umai is listed in some sources as perhaps deriving from verb 熟む (umu, “to ripen, to become ripe”). There is a derived compound term where the meaning is clearly from the adjective, and the spelling uses the 熟 kanji from the verb. However, the verb does not appear in historical sources with an emphatic initial /mm/, and it seems to be cognate with 膿む (umu, “to fester, to fill with pus, to produce pus”, intransitive), possibly also with 生む, 産む (umu, “to bear, to give birth to; to produce”, transitive).
Reconstructed by Samuel Martin as Proto-Japonic *ma-.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) うまい [ùmáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [2])
* IPA: [ɯ̟ma̠i]
* Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「うまい」
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary :
| Stem forms ||||
| Continuative (連用形) | うまく | うまく うまく | [úꜜmàkù] [ùmáꜜkù] |
| Terminal (終止形) | うまい | うまい | [ùmáꜜì] |
| Attributive (連体形) | うまい | うまい | [ùmáꜜì] |
| Key constructions ||||
| Informal negative | うまくない | うまくない うまくない | [úꜜmàkùnàì] [ùmáꜜkùnàì] |
| Informal past | うまかった | うまかった うまかった | [úꜜmàkàttà] [ùmáꜜkàttà] |
| Informal negative past | うまくなかった | うまくなかった うまくなかった | [úꜜmàkùnàkàttà] [ùmáꜜkùnàkàttà] |
| Formal | うまいです | うまいです | [ùmáꜜìdèsù] |
| Conjunctive | うまくて | うまくて うまくて | [úꜜmàkùtè] [ùmáꜜkùtè] |
| Conditional | うまければ | うまければ うまければ | [úꜜmàkèrèbà] [ùmáꜜkèrèbà] |

#### Adjective

うまい • (umai) -i (adverbial うまく (umaku))
* 上手い, 巧い: good at something, skillful
    Synonym: 上手 (jōzu)
    君(きみ)の日(に)本(ほん)語(ご)がうまいな。
       Kimi no Nihongo ga umai na.
       Your Japanese is good.
    彼(かれ)はテニスがうまい。
       Kare wa tenisu ga umai.
       He's good at tennis.
* 美味い, 旨い, 甘い, 甘美い, 味い, 美い: delicious, tasty
    Synonym: 美味しい (oishii)
    飯(めし)がうまい。
       Meshi ga umai.
       The meal is delicious.
* 旨い, 美い: favorable, preferable, good
    Synonyms: 好ましい (konomashii), 良い (ii)
    うまいタイミングで訪(ほう)問(もん)する
       umai taimingu de hōmon suru
       to visit at a good time
* 旨い: profitable
    株(かぶ)式(しき)仲(なか)買(がい)人(にん)とはうまい仕(し)事(ごと)ですよ。
       Kabushikinakagainin to wa umai shigoto desu yo.
       Being a stockbroker is profitable work.
* (uncommon) 旨い: thoughtless, foolish, lackadaisical, slipshod, short-sighted
    Synonyms: (more common) 甘い (amai), 愚か (oroka), 浅はか (asahaka)

##### Usage notes

This term is more common in masculine speech, and may have more casual connotations. The common gender-neutral and polite term for the skillful sense is 上手 (jōzu), and for the delicious sense, 美味しい (oishii).

##### Inflection

Stem forms :
| Imperfective (未然形) | うまかろ | umakaro |
| Continuative (連用形) | うまく | umaku |
| Terminal (終止形) | うまい | umai |
| Attributive (連体形) | うまい | umai |
| Hypothetical (仮定形) | うまけれ | umakere |
| Imperative (命令形) | うまかれ | umakare |
| Key constructions ||||
| Informal negative | うまくない | umaku nai |
| Informal past | うまかった | umakatta |
| Informal negative past | うまくなかった | umaku nakatta |
| Formal | うまいです | umai desu |
| Formal negative | うまくないです | umaku nai desu |
| Formal past | うまかったです | umakatta desu |
| Formal negative past | うまくなかったです | umaku nakatta desu |
| Conjunctive | うまくて | umakute |
| Conditional | うまければ | umakereba |
| Provisional | うまかったら | umakattara |
| Volitional | うまかろう | umakarō |
| Adverbial | うまく | umaku |
| Degree | うまさ | umasa |

##### Derived terms

* うまい (umai) (熟寝, 熟睡, 味寝): a deep sleep, a refreshing sleep
* うまいい (umaii) (味飯): tasty rice
* うまうま (umauma) (旨旨): (baby talk) tasty, delicious; milk; the mother's breast
* うまき (umaki) (味酒): delicious saké
* うまくさい (umakusai) (旨臭い): smelling delicious; seeming favorable
* うまくち (umakuchi) (甘口): sweet flavor (as of a wine or sauce, in contrast to dry or sour); convincing words, flattery
* うまさ (umasa) (旨さ): deliciousness, tastiness
* うまさけ (umasake), うまざけ (umazake) (旨酒, 味酒, 美酒): delicious saké
* うまに (umani) (甘煮, 旨煮): sweet nimono (a kind of traditional Japanese simmered dish)
* うまひと (umahito) (味人, 貴人): someone from a good family; a noble, an aristocrat
* うまみ (umami) (旨味): taste, flavor; savor, savoriness; attractiveness, charm; profit
* うまら (umara) (旨ら, 甘ら, 美ら): (archaic) delicious, tasty; pleasant, comfortable

### Etymology 2

* For pronunciation and definitions of うまい – see the following entries: 熟寝, 味寝, 右舞
(The following entries are uncreated: 熟寝, 味寝, 右舞.)

### References

* ↑ c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 16, poem 3857:, text here
* ↑ “旨・甘・味・美”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
* ↑ Gogen Allguide, entry here (in Japanese)
* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Samuel E. Martin (1987) The Japanese Language Through Time, New Haven, London: Yale University Press, →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
* ↑ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN