わらわ

わらわ

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
妾 私

From 童(わらわ) (warawa, “child; young servant”).[1][2] Compare 僕(ぼく) (boku, “I; me”, literally “manservant”). Attested from Late Middle Japanese (中世, c. 12th century).[2]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) わ​らわ [wáꜜràwà] (Atamadaka – [1])[3]
• IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠ɾa̠ɰᵝa̠]

Pronoun

わらわ • (warawa) ^{←わらは (warafa)?}

1. (archaic, women's speech, humble) I; me
   • 2003 October 22, Oh!great (Ōgure Ito), “FIGHT:62”, in 天(てん)上(じょう)天(てん)下(げ) [Above Heaven, Under Heaven], volume 10 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:

     このような危険(きけん)を冒(おか)して……妾(わらわ)のようなはした女(め)を…っ　妾(わらわ)のような…‼

     Kono yō na kiken o okashite…… warawa no yō na hashita me o…' warawa no yō na…‼

     Getting yourself in harm's way like this… for a lowly maid like me… someone like me…!!

2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (modern fiction, women's speech) I; me (used by haughty women of the highest classes of society)

Usage notes

Chiefly used by women as 謙(けん)譲(じょう)語(ご) (kenjōgo), a form of honorific that presents the speaker as lower status than the addressee. Sometimes used by men, in which case it connotes great humility.[1] In Modern Japanese the word came to be associated primarily with women from the samurai class.[1]

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling
童

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) わ​らわ [wáꜜràwà] (Atamadaka – [1])[3]
• IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠ɾa̠ɰᵝa̠]

Noun

わらわ • (warawa) ^{←わらは (warafa)?}

1. (archaic, historical) a hairstyle, with the hair not tied up but hanging loose, typically worn by children
2. (by extension, archaic) a child older than a baby but not yet an adult
   • a. 1002, Sei Shōnagon, Makura no sōshi [The Pillow Book]:

     いと細(こま)やかなるわらはの、狩(かり)衣(ぎぬ)は掛(か)け破(や)りなどして、髪(かみ)うるはしきが

     ito komayaka naru waraha no, kariginu wa kake yarinado shite, kami uru wa shiki ga

     a skinny child in tattered hunting clothes, but with hair neatly styled

3. (archaic) a child servant, a child who does errands; (especially) a young servant of a Buddhist temple

   Synonym: 召使い (meshitsukai)

4. (archaic, historical) short for 五節の童女 (gosechi no warawa), a girl who dances in 五節(ごせち) (gosechi) festivals

Usage notes

After their genpuku coming-of-age ceremony, young men would be expected to wear adult hairstyles. The childish warawa loose hair worn by young boys was therefore iconic of childhood. During the Nara period, upper class youth undertook genpuku from about the age of 10.

See also

• 元(げん)服(ぷく) (genpuku, “coming of age ceremony”, historical)
• わらべ (warabe, “child; servant”)

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2004, 小学館 全文全訳古語辞典 (Shōgakukan Dictionary of Archaisms with Complete Translations) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
3. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN