くち

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
口

From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *kutui.[1] Appears in the Kojiki of 712 CE[2] and the Man'yōshū completed some time after 759 CE.[3] Possibly cognate with Goguryeo *古次 (*kuci, “mouth”).[1][4][5]

Standalone form of 口(くつ) (kutsu, bound form). Compare 神 (kami, kamu-, “spirit, god”), 木 (ki, ko-, “tree”), and 目 (me, ma-, “eye”).

There are interesting potential phonetic and semantic overlaps with Middle Chinese 窟 (MC khwot, “hole; cave”), 口 (MC khuwX, “mouth; opening; hole”); Korean 굳 (gut), 굿 (gut, “hole; hollow; cavity”); possibly even Ainu クㇳ (kut), クッチ (kutchi, “throat”). One possibility is that these represent prehistoric nativized borrowings from Chinese. However, there is yet no clear evidence of relatedness.

Alternative forms

  • (non-productive, bound form)

Pronunciation

Noun

くち • (kuchi) 

  1. 口: mouth
  2. 口: opening
  3. 口: voice, author
    書(か)き口(くち)
    kakikuchi
    (please add an English translation of this example)
  4. 口: drinker, consumer
    行(い)ける口(くち)
    ikeru kuchi
    able to down a drink
    飲(の)める口(くち)
    nomeru kuchi
    (please add an English translation of this example)
  5. 口: taste (in food), preference
    日(に)本(ほん)人(じん)の口(くち)に合(あ)わせた料(りょう)理(り)
    Nihonjin no kuchi ni awaseta ryōri
    food adapted to Japanese tastes
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling
鷹

From Old Japanese, from Baekje 倶知 (*kuti, “hawk”), as mentioned in the Nihon Shoki of 720.[9][10]

The last cited usage was the Sanbokukikashū of circa 1128.[11]

Pronunciation

Noun

くち • (kuchi) 

  1. 鷹: (obsolete) hawk
    Synonym: 鷹 (taka)

Etymology 3

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of 朽ちる (kuchiru, “to rot”).[12]

Pronunciation

Noun

くち • (kuchi) 

  1. 朽, 腐: something rotten
  2. 朽, 腐: a disease that makes ears of grain rot

Affix

くち • (kuchi) 

  1. 朽, 腐: rotting
  2. 朽, 腐: aging

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of くち – see the following entry.
【駆馳】
driving with a car, horse, etc.
working with affairs
to drive with a car, horse, etc.
to work with affairs
(This term, くち (kuchi), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
For a list of all kanji read as くち, see Category:Japanese kanji read as くち.)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Vovin, Alexander (2017) “Origins of the Japanese Language”, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, →DOI
  2. ^ “口”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  3. ^
    c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3532:
    , text here
  4. ^ Itabashi, Yoshizo (2003) “高句麗の地名から高句麗語と朝鮮語・日本語との史 的関係をさぐる [A Study of the Historical Relationship of the Koguryo Language, the Old Japanese Language, and the Middle Korean Language on the Basis of Fragmentary Glosses Preserved as Place Names in the Samguk Sagi]”, in 日本語系統論の現 [Perspectives on the Origins of the Japanese Language] (in Japanese), →DOI, pages 131-185
  5. ^ Beckwith, Christopher (2007) Koguryo: The Language of Japan’s Continental Relatives (Brill's Japanese Studies Library)‎, →ISBN, page 128, →ISBN
  6. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  9. ^ Vovin, Alexander (2013) “From Koguryo to T'amna”, in Korean Linguistics‎, volume 15, number 2 (PDF), John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, pages 222-240
  10. ^ John Bentley (2000) “New Look at Paekche and Korean: Data from Nihon shoki”, in Language Research‎, volume 36, number 2, Seoul National University, pages 417—443
  11. ^ “くち 【鷹】Paid subscription required”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
  12. ^ “朽・腐”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

Okinawan

Noun

くち (kuchi) 

  1. 口: mouth, language, dialect, speech
  2. 骨: remains, ashes
  3. 東風: easterly
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