# さ

| さ | U+3055, &#12373; HIRAGANA LETTER SA |
| ← ご [U+3054] | Hiragana | ざ → [U+3056] |

## Japanese
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sa̠]

### Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 左 in the cursive sōsho style.

#### Syllable

さ • (sa)
* The hiragana syllable さ (sa). Its equivalent in katakana is サ (sa). It is the eleventh syllable in the gojūon order; its position is さ行あ段 (sa-gyō a-dan, “row sa, section a”).

##### Derived terms

* ざ (za)

##### See also

* (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こ𛄲 (𛄲)ご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐 (𛅐)ゐ゙, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ𛅑 (𛅑)ゑ゙, を𛅒 (𛅒)を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

### Etymology 2

Cognate with し (shi).

#### Pronoun

さ • (sa)
* third person personal pronoun; they
** c. late 10th century Taketori Monogatari
    翁言ふやう、「御迎へに來む人をば、長き爪して、眼をつかみ潰さん。 さが髪をとりて、かなぐり落とさむ。さが尻をかき出でて、ここらの公人に見せて、恥を見せん」と腹立ちをる。(please add an English translation of this usage example)

##### See also

* し (shi)

### Etymology 3

From Old Japanese.

#### Suffix

さ • (-sa)
* -ness
    綺(き)麗(れい)→綺(き)麗(れい)さ
       kirei→kireisa
       beautiful→beauty (na-adjective)
    悲(かな)しい→悲(かな)しさ
       kanashii→kanashisa
       sad→sadness (i-adjective)

##### Usage notes

* Used with na-adjectives and i-adjectives.
* Has a different connotation from み (-mi). See that entry for explanation.

#### References

* ↑ Old Japanese -sa in Oxford-NINJAL Corpus of Old Japanese

### Etymology 4
#### Particle

さ • (sa)
* (dialectal Kanto, Tōhoku, Hokkaidō) sentence-ending particle indicating emphasis
* (colloquial, men's speech) sentence-ending particle indicating familiarity or assertion
    大(だい)丈(じょう)夫(ぶ)さ。気(き)にしないでくれ。
       Daijōbu sa. Ki ni shinai de kure.
       It's fine, don't worry about it.
* (informal) filler particle similar to ね (ne)
    それでさ、凄(すご)く怒(おこ)られたんだよ。
       Sore de sa, sugoku okorareta n da yo.
       Then, I really got yelled at.

##### Usage notes

As a male sentence-ending particle, less strong than ぞ (zo) or ぜ (ze).

### Etymology 5
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sa̠]

#### Particle

さ • (sa)
* (dialectal) to
    Synonyms: (standard Japanese) へ (e), (standard Japanese) に (ni)
    かっちゃさ電(でん)話(わ)しねば！
       Katcha sa denwa shineba!
       (Tsugaru) Gotta call mom!
    『俺(お)ら東(とう)京(きょう)さ行(い)ぐだ』
       “Ora Tōkyō sa Igu da”
       "I'm Goin' to Tokyo" (1984 song by Yoshi Ikuzō)
** 1929, Takiji Kobayashi, Kani Kōsen [The Crab Cannery Ship]‎:
    「おい地(じ)獄(ごく)さ行(え)ぐんだで！」
       “Oi jigoku sa egu n da de!”
       "Ah'm goin' ta hell!"

#### References

* Sakakura, Atsuyoshi with Yūichi Ōtsu, Hiroshi Tsukishima, Toshiko Abe, Imai Gen'e (1957) Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 9: Taketori Monogatari, Ise Monogatari, Yamato Monogatari (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

### Etymology 6

For pronunciation and definitions of さ – see the following entries. :
| 【矢】2 | [noun] (obsolete) an arrow |
| 【左】1 | [noun] the left in vertical writing [noun] the following (one) [prefix] to the left; on the left side [prefix] (history, government) "of the left", senior or superior to 右 (u-, “of the right”) |
(This term, さ (sa), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as さ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as さ.) :
(The following entry is uncreated: 小.)