つもり

つもり

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
積もり (rare) 積り (rare)

The nominative form of 積(つ)もる (tsumoru, “to intend”).

Noun

つもり • (tsumori) 

1. intention, purpose, plan

   行(い)く積(つ)もりだ。

   Iku tsumori da.

   I intend to go.

   私(わたし)は彼(かれ)に電(でん)話(わ)するつもりだ。

   Watashi wa kare ni denwa suru tsumori da.

   I'm going to call him.

2. conviction, belief

Usage notes

• This word is usually written using hiragana alone (つもり) instead of kanji (積もり), as it is grammaticalized – compare みる (miru) (from 見る) and others.
• つもり cannot be used as a nominal – 「つもりは…」 (“The plan is…”) is incorrect. It is rather a suffix, 〜つもり.
  • For a nominal meaning “plan”, 企画 (kikaku) or other such words are used instead.
• 〜つもり has a different meaning when it follows a verb that is in the present-future (non-past, imperfective) tense – in which case it means “plan, intention” – and when it modifies either a verb in the past (perfective) tense, or an adjective, or a noun followed by 〜の – in which case it means “conviction, belief, impression, understanding”.
  • This latter usage is less-taught in textbooks; see Rubin reference for extended discussion. A humorous example use is, if asked 「アメリカの方ですか？」 (“Are you American?”) – and one in fact is – to reply 「アメリカ人のつもりですけど…」 (“Well, I was the last time I looked…”, literally “I believe that I am an American [but I’m not completely sure]”).

References

• “Tsumori and the Vanishing Beefsteak”, in Making sense of Japanese: what the textbooks don’t tell you, Jay Rubin, pp. 101–104

Alternative forms

• (appearing in standard Japanese dictionaries) つぶり (tsuburi), つむり (tsumuri)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨᵝmo̞ɾʲi]

Noun

つもり • (tsumori) 

1. (dialect, Kyūshū, Ibaraki)[1][2] head

   Synonym: (standard Japanese) あたま (atama)

   • 1930, 雨森芳洲 (Amenomori Hōshū), “疾病”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, volume 1, 小倉文庫 edition:

     頭(づ)痛(つう)ツモリノイタム所(ところ)ニ木(き)枕(まくら)ヲヤメテフセ枕(まくら)ヲナサレマセイ

     zutsū tsumori no itamu tokoro ni kimakura o yamete fuse-makura o nasaremasei

     (please add an English translation of this example)

     頭痛 머리 앏픈 ᄃᆡ 목침을 말고 슈침을 폐ᄋᆞᆸ소 (original Old Korean)

     頭痛 meli alpphun toy mwokchimul malkwo syuchimul phyeyopswo

References

1. 野原三義 ((Can we date this quote?)) “琉球方言と九州諸方言との比較(III)”, in 沖縄国際大学文学部紀要‎, page 9

   つぶり　頭　「葉隠」（『九州方言』）
   〃　〃　『宮崎方』
   つもり天々^{[sic – meaning 〃]}　頭を津裳利トハ云　『菊池俗言考』
   tʃiburu　＜頭＞

2. “茨城の人体用語”, in 昔の茨城弁集‎, (please provide a date or year)