あそこ

あそこ

Japanese

Etymology

Alternative spelling
彼処

Shift from earlier あしこ (ashiko). The asoko form appears in the Utsubo Monogatari of the late 900s, during the Heian period.[1]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あそこ [àsókó] (Heiban – [0])[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [a̠so̞ko̞]

• (Kyoto) あそこ [àsòkó], あそこ [àsóꜜkò][5]

Pronoun

あそこ • (asoko) 

1. (deictically) that place, area, or part over there (far from the speaker and the addressee)

   私(わたし)の子(こ)供(ども)はあそこで遊(あそ)んでいますよ。

   Watashi no kodomo wa asoko de asonde imasu yo.

   My child is playing over there.

2. (deictically) that organization or team over there (far from the speaker and the addressee)
3. (anaphorically) that place, area, or part we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know)
4. (anaphorically) that organization or team we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know)
5. (slang, by extension from the sense of “down there”) genitals

Usage notes

• The hiragana spelling あそこ is preferred to the kanji spelling 彼処, which is rarely used.
• あそこ, as a meaning of place, is mostly followed by some particles with verbs as follows.

  あそこに: with verbs of movement (go, come, move, transfer, ...) or verbs of existence(be, exist, stay, ...).

  あそこへ: with verbs of movement (go, come, move, transfer, ...).

  あそこで: with the other verbs.

See also

Japanese demonstratives

	ko- “this” (close to speaker)	so- “that” (close to listener)	a- “that over there” (far from both)	do- “which” (indeterminate, question)
Object	これ (kore)	それ (sore)	あれ (are)	どれ (dore)
	これら (korera)	それら (sorera)	あれら (arera)	—
Determiner	この (kono)	その (sono)	あの (ano)	どの (dono)
	これらの (korera no)	それらの (sorera no)	あれらの (arera no)	—
Kind	こんな (konna)	そんな (sonna)	あんな (anna)	どんな (donna)
Place	ここ (koko)	そこ (soko)	あそこ (asoko)*	どこ (doko)
	こっから (kokkara)	そっから (sokkara)	—	どっから (dokkara)
Direction	こちら (kochira)	そちら (sochira)	あちら (achira)	どちら (dochira)
	こっち (kotchi)	そっち (sotchi)	あっち (atchi)	どっち (dotchi)
Human	こいつ (koitsu)	そいつ (soitsu)	あいつ (aitsu)	どいつ (doitsu)
	こちら様 (kochirasama)	そちら様 (sochirasama)	あちら様 (achirasama)	どちら様 (dochirasama)
Manner	こう (kō)	そう (sō)	ああ (ā)**	どう (dō)
Degree	こんくらい (konkurai)	そんくらい (sonkurai)	あんくらい (ankurai)	どんくらい (donkurai)
	こんだけ (kondake)	そんだけ (sondake)	あんだけ (andake)	どんだけ (dondake)
* irregular ** regular (long vowel)

The kanji 此(こ) (ko), 其(そ) (so), 彼(あ) (a), and 何(ど) (do) can be used for determiners, but they are almost always spelled in hiragana.

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
4. 1974, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Second Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō
5. 2002, 京阪系アクセント辞典 (A Dictionary of Tone on Words of the Keihan-type Dialects) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Bensei, →ISBN