お父さん

Japanese

Kanji in this term
父
とう Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

御父さん

Etymology

Originally a compound of 御 (o, “honorific prefix”) +‎ 父 (toto, “father”) +‎ 様 (sama, “honorific suffix”).^[1]^[2]

/ototosama/ → /otottsan/ → /otossan/

The /otossan/ → /otoosan/ progression was artificial; regular Japanese sound changes generally would not allow this shift. The /otoosan/ form first appears in the early Meiji period in educational materials mandated by the 文部省 (Monbushō, “Ministry of Education”).^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

Kun’yomi
- (Tokyo) おとーさん [òtóꜜòsàǹ] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]
- IPA^(key): [o̞to̞ːsã̠ɴ]

Noun

お父さん (hiragana おとうさん, rōmaji otōsan)

(honorific) father

Usage notes

This term is used to describe someone's father. For father in the more general sense of male parent, use the term 父親 (chichioya) instead.

Synonyms

父 (ちち) (chichi): only used to talk about one's own father
父親 (ちちおや) (chichioya): more general and impersonal
父上 (ちちうえ) (chichiue): more formal
親父 (おやじ) (oyaji): more informal, similar to old man

Descendants

Min Nan: 多桑 (tò-sàng) (Taiwanese)

References

1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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[KDJ-1] 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

[DJR-2] 1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN