何時

See also: 何时

Chinese

 
carry; what; how; why; which
 
o'clock; time; when; hour; season; period
trad. (何時) 何 時
simp. (何时) 何 时

Pronunciation

Pronoun

何時

  1. (literary) when; what time
    唉，我不知何時再能與他相見。 [MSC, trad.]
    唉，我不知何时再能与他相见。 [MSC, simp.]
    Ài, wǒ bùzhī héshí zài néng yǔ tā xiāngjiàn. [Pinyin]
    Alas, I do not know when I will see him again.

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
何 時
Grade: 2 Grade: 2
Irregular

From Old Japanese.[1] Appears in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[2]

The presence of other Old Japanese indefinites beginning with い (i) suggests a possible shared root of い (i, possibly “what” or “which”), as in 如何 (ikaga, “how”), 何処 (izuko, “where”), 幾ら (ikura, “how many, how much”).

Likely cognate with eastern Old Japanese word idu (modern idzu or izu, “where”), still used in modern Japanese as part of the word いずれ (izure, “which”).

Pronunciation

Pronoun

何時 (hiragana いつ, rōmaji itsu)

  1. when, which day
Usage notes

Itsu is most often spelled in hiragana as いつ. Itsu is more commonly used to mean when in terms of dates or days, while nanji is more commonly used to mean when in terms of time of day.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
何 時
なん
Grade: 2		 じ
Grade: 2
yutōyomi

Compound of 何 (nan, “what”) +‎ 時 (ji, “hour”). The nan portion is from Old Japanese 何 (nani, “what”), while the ji portion is a borrowing from Middle Chinese 時 (MC d͡ʑɨ).

Pronunciation

Pronoun

何時 (hiragana なんじ, rōmaji nanji)

  1. what time, when
    今 (いま)何 (なん)時 (じ)ですか？
    Ima nanji desu ka?
    What time is it right now?
Usage notes

Nanji is often spelled in kanji. Nanji is more commonly used to mean when in terms of time of day, while itsu is more commonly used to mean when in terms of dates or days.

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
何 時
なん
Grade: 2		 とき > どき
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Compound of Old Japanese elements 何 (nan, “what”) +‎ 時 (toki, “time”).[1][3] The toki changes to doki as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

  • 何刻 (rare)

Pronoun

何時 (hiragana なんどき, rōmaji nandoki)

  1. (dated) what time, when
Usage notes

Use is more limited than nanji or itsu. Most commonly found in set phrase いつなんどき (itsu nandoki), comparable to English phrase “when and at what time”, but only used when expressing ignorance, never used in questions.[1]

May sound old-fashioned.[3][5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. ↑ c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 15, poem 3705), text here
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. 1 2 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
  5. 1 2 3 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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