さま
Japanese
Etymology 1
Alternative spellings |
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様 方 状 |
From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of さ (sa, “that”, pronominal indicating a person, place, thing, or direction in the middle distance) + ま (ma, “likeness, way, similarity”, suffix indicating a quality).[1]
Alternative forms
- ざま (-zama) (when used as a suffix in some combinations)
Pronunciation
- Kun’yomi
- (Tokyo) さま [sàmáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])[2]
- IPA(key): [sa̠ma̠]
(with rendaku when used as a suffix in some combinations)
- Kun’yomi
- IPA(key): [sa̠ma̠]
Noun
さま • (sama)
- a person's appearance (as of body, or style, or face, etc.)
- the state or situation of a thing
- 鋭敏。感覚が鋭いこと。また、そのさま。
- Eibin. Kankaku ga surudoi koto. Mata, sono sama.
- Eibin. For the senses to be sharp. Or, the state of being such.
- 鋭敏。感覚が鋭いこと。また、そのさま。
- the general trend, tenor, or feel of a thing
- one's social station, status, or quality
- the way or means of doing something, how one does something
- the reason or circumstances for something
Derived terms
- 様々, 様様 (samazama)
- 有様, 有り様 (arisama)
- 如何様 (ikasama)
- 永様 (ei-sama)
- お互い様 (otagaisama), 御互い様 (otagaisama)
- 御馳走様 (go-chisōsama)
- 異様 (kotozama)
- 逆様, 倒 (sakasama)
- 次様 (tsugi-zama)
- 続け様 (tsuzukezama)
- 外様 (tozama)
- 何様 (nanisama)
- 美様 (bi-zama)
- 平様 (hira-zama)
- 外様 (hokazama), 外様 (hokasama)
- 皆様 (minasama)
- 横様 (yokosama)
Pronoun
さま • (sama)
- (archaic, honorific) second-person pronoun: you, you all
- (archaic, honorific) third-person distal pronoun: he, she, they (distant from both speaker and listener)
Usage notes
Used primarily by women of the red-light districts of the Edo period.[1]
The pronoun senses have largely fallen into disuse. These originated as abbreviations of longer forms 君様 (kimisama, literally “lord + that way”), 方様 (katasama, literally “that side + that way”), or 貴様 (kisama, literally “noble + that way”), with the -sama suffix (see below) developing into an independent use.
Suffix
さま • (-sama)
- (honorific) polite personal suffix: honorable, Mr., Ms.
- 吉田様が来られました。
- Yoshida-sama ga koraremashita.
- Mr. [honorable] Yoshida has come here.
- Synonym: (polite) さん (san)
- 吉田様が来られました。
- (honorific) attaching to nouns or other nominals: a politeness marker that often has no direct translation, replacing copula です (desu)
- Synonym: (polite) さん (san)
- ご苦労様。
- Gokurō-sama.
- You have done well [honorable].
- attaching to specific nouns or other nominals: that way, that direction
- 逆様、横様
- sakasama, yokosama
- backwards, sideways
- 逆様、横様
- (archaic) attaching to verbs: just as (indicating the specific time when the verb is happening)
- attaching to verbs: the way of doing something, how one does something (often undergoes rendaku, changing -sama to -zama)
- 座り様
- suwarisama
- how one sits
- 座り様
Usage notes
The honorific senses developed out of euphemistic use of the noun sense of sama, “that way”, as an oblique form of reference, starting from around the Muromachi period.[1]
The -sama suffix after personal names is more respectful than the everyday さん (-san), and is generally only used when being very polite. Gender-neutral. This is sometimes glossed as honorable, but honorable is also used as a title, such as for judges or governors or certain ranks of nobility, whereas -sama is purely about politeness and relative social closeness.
Derived terms
- さん (-san)
- 様々, 様様 (samasama)
- 王様 (ō-sama)
- お蔭様, 御蔭様 (okage-sama)
- お客様, 御客様 (okyaku-sama)
- 奥様 (okusama)
- お日様, 御日様 (ohisama)
- お姫様, 御姫様 (ohime-sama)
- 神様 (kamisama)
- 貴様 (kisama)
- 殿様 (tono-sama)
- 姫様 (hīsama)
- 皆様 (mina-sama)
Descendants
- → English: -sama
- → Chinese:
- → Mandarin: 樣/样 (yàng)
See also
- 君 (-kun)
- ちゃん (-chan)
- 殿 (-dono)
References
- 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
Etymology 2
For pronunciation and definitions of さま – see the following entry. | ||
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(This term, さま, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |