可愛い

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
可 愛
か
Grade: 5		 あい > わい
Grade: 4
Irregular

/kawajui/ → /kawaiː/

Shift in pronunciation from kawayui below.[1]

The kanji spelling 可愛い is an example of ateji (当て字), and uses an irregular reading of 愛. The phonological resemblance to Chinese 可愛 (“lovable”, Mandarin kě'ài, Min Nan khó-ài) is coincidental. Note that the medial -w- here is not an excrescence added between ka (可) and ai (愛), since the word is not formed from these morphemes.

Already realized phonetically as /kawaiː/ by the early 1600s, and possibly found alongside older form kawayui, as seen in the 1603 edition of the Nippo Jisho.[2]

Pronunciation

  • (Irregular reading)

Adjective

可愛い (-i inflection, hiragana かわいい, rōmaji kawaii, historical hiragana かはいい)

  1. lovable, adorable, cute
    • 1988 October 20, Adachi, Mitsuru, “第だい22話わ　麻ま里り亜あの心こころ [Chapter 22: Maria’s Heart]”, in スローステップSLOW STEP [SLOW STEP], volume 3 (fiction, in Japanese), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 149:
      あなた目 (め)悪 (わる)くない
      Anata me waruku nai
      You have very bad eyesight, don’t you?
      バカなこというなよ　ボクサーだぜ　目 (め)のよさは折 (お)り紙 (がみ)つきだよ　きみのほうがぜったいにかわいいよ！
      Baka na koto iu na yo Bokusā da ze Me no yosa wa origamitsuki da yo Kimi no hō ga zettai ni kawaii yo!
      That’s ridiculous! I’m a boxer! I have certifiably flawless eyesight! You definitely are cuter!
      はい　はい
      Hai hai
      Sure, sure
    • 2000 August 10, Andō, Yūma; Asaki, Masashi, “ＢＲＥＡＫブレイク.39　痛つう恨こんの国くに光みつ‥ [BREAK.39 When Kunimitsu Has Remorse‥]”, in サイコメトラーEIJIエイジ [Psychometrer EIJI], volume 24 (fiction, in Japanese), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN:
      でも——可 (か)愛 (わい)いですね　このジンガイのガキ
      Demo—— kawaii desu ne kono jingai no gaki
      However—— this foreign kid’s pretty cute, don’t ya think
      チッ　ロリコンが
      Chih rorikon ga
      Yeesh, you pedophile
Inflection

Usage notes

Often spelled in hiragana.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
可 愛
Grade: 5 Grade: 4
Irregular

/kahahajushi/ → /kahajushi/ → /kawajui/

A contraction of classical 顔映し (kawahayushi, “embarrassing, shameful”). The meaning evolved from shameful to evoking pity, to evoking compassion, and then to lovable.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (Irregular reading)
    • (Tokyo) かわゆ​い [kàwáyúꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])[3]
    • IPA(key): [ka̠ɰᵝa̠jɯ̟ᵝi]

Adjective

可愛い (-i inflection, hiragana かわゆい, rōmaji kawayui, historical hiragana かはゆい)

  1. embarrassed, having a guilty conscience: see 顔映し (kawahayushi).
  2. (obsolete) pitiable, pitiful
    • 1632, Diego Collado, Dictionarium sive thesauri linguae Iaponicae compendium
      Miſerabilis, e: coſa que cauſa laſtima, cavaij.
      (Latin:) Wretched; (Spanish:) thing that causes pity, kawaii.
  3. lovable, adorable, cute
Inflection

References

  1. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. ↑ 1603, Nippo Jisho (in Portuguese), relevant text here. Left-hand column, third entry down, listed as Cauaij.
  3. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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