つもり

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
積もり (rare)
積り (rare)

The nominative form of ()もる (tsumoru, to intend).

Suffix

つもり (-tsumori

  1. intend to, purpose of, plan to
    ()()もりだ。
    Iku tsumori da.
    I intend to go.
    (わたし)(かれ)(でん)()するつもりだ。
    Watashi wa kare ni denwa suru tsumori da.
    I'm going to call him.
  2. (After the past form of a verb) convicted to, believe to
Usage notes
  • This word is usually written using hiragana alone (つもり) instead of kanji (積もり), as it is grammaticalized – compare みる (miru) (from 見る) and others.
  • つもり cannot be used as a nominal – 「つもりは…」 (The plan is…) is incorrect. It is rather a suffix, 〜つもり.
    • For a nominal meaning “plan”, 企画 (kikaku) or other such words are used instead.
  • 〜つもり has a different meaning when it follows a verb that is in the present-future (non-past, imperfective) tense – in which case it means “plan, intention” – and when it modifies either a verb in the past (perfective) tense, or an adjective, or a noun followed by 〜の – in which case it means “conviction, belief, impression, understanding”.
    • This latter usage is less-taught in textbooks; see Rubin reference for extended discussion. A humorous example use is, if asked 「アメリカの方ですか?」 (Are you American?) – and one in fact is – to reply 「アメリカ人のつもりですけど…」 (Well, I was the last time I looked…, literally I believe that I am an American ).

References

  • “Tsumori and the Vanishing Beefsteak”, in Making sense of Japanese: what the textbooks don’t tell you, Jay Rubin, pp. 101–104

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

つもり (tsumori

  1. (dialect, Kyūshū, Ibaraki) head
    Synonym: (standard Japanese) あたま (atama)
    • 1930, 雨森芳洲 (Amenomori Hōshū), “疾病”, in 交隣須知 (Kōrin suchi), 小倉文庫 edition, volume 1:
      ()(つう) ツモリノイタム(ところ)()(まくら)ヲヤメテフセ(まくら)ヲナサレマセイ
      zutsū tsumori no itamu tokoro ni kimakura o yamete fuse-makura o nasaremasei
      Headache: Stop using a wooden pillow and use a laid pillow, to the place where hurts in your head, sir.
      頭痛 머리 앏픈 ᄃᆡ 목침을 말고 슈침을 폐ᄋᆞᆸ소 (original Korean)

References

  1. ^ 野原三義 ((Can we date this quote?)) “琉球方言と九州諸方言との比較(III)”, in 沖縄国際大学文学部紀要, page 9

    つぶり 頭 「葉隠」(『九州方言』)
    〃 〃 『宮崎方』
    つもり天々 頭を津裳利トハ云 『菊池俗言考』
    tʃiburu <頭>

  2. ^ 茨城の人体用語”, in 昔の茨城弁集, (Can we date this quote?)