社会

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See also: 社會

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 社会 – see 社會 (“society; community; class; etc.”).
(This term is the simplified form of 社會).
Notes:

Japanese

Kanji in this term
社 会
しゃ
Grade: 2 		かい
Grade: 2
kan'on
Alternative spelling
社會 (kyūjitai)
 社会 on Japanese Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 社會 (MC dzyaeX hwajH, “public gathering for offering to the god of earth”), as a compound composed of 社 (d͡ʑiaX, “god of earth; ceremony for offering to the god of earth”) + 會 (“gathering”). The word was repurposed by Fukuchi Gen'ichirō in 1875 to translate the western concept of society.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

社(しゃ)会(かい) • (shakai) ←しやくわい (syakwai)?

  1. society (group of people sharing culture)
    社会(しゃかい)問題(もんだい)
    shakai mondai
    social issue
    • 1910, 森鷗外, 鴎外漁史とは誰ぞ:
      人(ひと)は社会(しゃかい)を成(な)す動物(どうぶつ)だ。
      Hito wa shakai o nasu dōbutsu da.
      Man is an animal that builds societies / Man is a social animal.
  2. a class, a world of a certain group
    • 1904, 河口慧海, チベット旅行記:
      これらは中等以下(ちゅうとういか)の社会(しゃかい)の人(ひと)に多(おお)い。
      Kore-ra wa chūtō ika no shakai no hito ni ōi.
      These are very common among people from the middle and lower classes.
    • 1929, 平林初之輔, 昭和四年の文壇の概観:
      ちょうどそれは金融寡頭政治(きんゆうかとうせいじ)の社会(しゃかい)とよく似(に)ている。
      Chōdo sore wa kin'yū katōseiji no shakai to yoku nite iru.
      It looks exactly like a world of financial oligarchs.

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  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
  3. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Anagrams

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