なぜ

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word なぜ. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word なぜ, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say なぜ in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word なぜ you have here. The definition of the word なぜ will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofなぜ, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Japanese

Alternative spelling
何故

Alternative forms

Etymology

/nani semu ni/ → */nanzenni//nazenni//nazeni//naze/

Derived from Old Japanese 何せむに.[1]

Pronunciation

Adverb

なぜ (naze

  1. (formal, literary, poetic) why ... ?, how ... ?

Usage notes

  • This term is often spelled in hiragana.
  • This word mainly belongs to formal (e.g. academic essays) and written (e.g. song lyrics) language, and might sound appropriately stiff or poetic in spoken language, even 丁寧語 (polite language), if it is in a context where formal style is not normally used. The synonym befitting most contexts is どうして.

Synonyms

References

  1. ^ Kotobank(コトバンク)
  2. ^ 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