彼女
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Japanese
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 彼 | 女 |
| か(の) Grade: S |
じょ Grade: 1 |
| yutōyomi | |
Etymology
First appears in writing in the late Edo period as a compound of 彼の (kano, ano, “that”) + 女 (onna, “woman”) with the reading kano onna or ano onna, simply meaning “that woman”.[1] The kanojo reading arose by replacing the kun'yomi reading of onna for the second character with its on'yomi of jo. The first written appearance of the kanojo reading is in 1876, in the 改正画引小学読本 (Kaisei Gakubiki Shōgaku Dokuhon, “Revised Stroke-ordered Elementary-school Reader”).[2] The first clear use of this term as a pronoun is around 1888,[2] arising out of influence from Western works.[1][2][3] The kanojo reading became more common and replaced kano onna and ano onna during the Taishō period (1912-1926).[1]
Pronunciation
Pronoun
彼女 • (kanojo) ←かのぢよ (kanodyo)?
- (formal) Female third-person singular pronoun; she, her
- 彼氏彼女の事情
- Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō
- His and Her Circumstances
- 1988 July 30 [1984 July 25], Fujiko F. Fujio, “ふたりぼっち [Altwo]”, in ポストの中の明日 [Post-Mid-Tomorrow] (藤子不二雄少年SF短編集; 2), 10th edition, volume 2 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 191:
- Kore Yamazaki, “第5篇 Misfortunes seldom come singly. [Composition 5: Misfortunes seldom come singly.]”, in 魔法使いの嫁 [The Ancient Magus’ Bride], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Mag Garden, page 174:
- やはり彼女が大事な実験体だからか？裂き喰らう城
- Yahari kanojo ga daiji na jikkentai dakara ka? Pirumu mūriarisu
- After all, she’s your indispensable specimen, right? Pilum murialis
- 2004 February 6, “レオニンのシカール [Leonin Shikari]”, in ダークスティール [Darksteel], Wizards of the Coast:
- 2016 July 22, “エムラクールの加護 [Boon of Emrakul]”, in 異界月 [Eldritch Moon], Wizards of the Coast:
- 彼氏彼女の事情
- (colloquial, vulgar) Used as a second-person singular pronoun to an unknown young woman by a man, especially in the vocative mood in a vulgar way.
Antonyms
- 彼 (kare, “he”)
Noun
彼女 or 彼女 • (kanojo) ←かのぢよ (kanodyo) or カノヂヨ (kanodyo)?
- (colloquial) a girlfriend (a female partner in a romantic relationship)
- あぁ、彼女がほしいなぁ…
- Ā, kanojo ga hoshii nā…
- Man, I wish I had a girlfriend…
- 2004 September 8, Hideaki Sorachi, “第十六訓 考えたら人生ってオッさんになってからの方が長いじゃねーか！ 恐っ‼ [Lesson 16: Come to Think of It, Life Gets Longer When You’re Old! Spooky!!]”, in 銀魂 [Silver Soul], volume 3 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:
- 2008 July 23, TAGRO, “#05”, in 変ゼミ [Abnormal Physiology Seminar], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN, page 83:
- これって……コムギさん⁉自分の彼女がやられてるのにその恍惚の表情は……ナニ⁉
コムギは寝取られフェチなのさ- Kore tte…… Komugi-san⁉ Jibun no kanojo ga yararete ru no ni sono kōkotsu no hyōjō wa…… nani⁉
Komugi wa netorare fechi na no sa - That is… Komugi-san!? His girlfriend’s cheating on him, and yet he has that satisfied look on his face… What the heck⁉
Komugi has a cuckold’s fetish
- Kore tte…… Komugi-san⁉ Jibun no kanojo ga yararete ru no ni sono kōkotsu no hyōjō wa…… nani⁉
- 2013 August 7, ONE with Murata, Yusuke, “21撃目 巨大隕石 [21st Hit: Giant Meteorite]”, in ONEPUNCH-MAN [One-Punch Man], volume 4 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 25:
- あぁ、彼女がほしいなぁ…
Usage notes
- This is an example of a word that can be spelled with katakana to convey an informal conversational tone, as カノジョ.
Synonyms
- ガールフレンド (gārufurendo, “girlfriend”, borrowed from English)
Antonyms
Hypernyms
Derived terms
- 元カノ (motokano, “ex-girlfriend”)
Descendants
- → Korean: 그녀(女) (geunyeo) (calque)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ 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
- ^ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN