What are the literal meanings of ohayou gozaimasu, konnichiha and konnbannha? To do fast? This… - Feed Post by JACKBOSMA
What are the literal meanings of ohayou gozaimasu, konnichiha and konnbannha? To do fast? This day is and this night is?
posted by JACKBOSMA
Comments 6
Shouldn't that be "konnnichiha"? :P
What's with all the painful ローマ字 today anyway?
おはようございます（御早う御座居ます）
＝ "Is early."
＝御（お）[prefix, adding beautification (honourific)]
＋早く（はやく）"early" [adverb] → 早う（はよう）
＋御座る（ござる）"be (is)" [verb] → 御座い（ござい）
＋ます [auxiliary verb, adding politeness]
こんにちは（今日は）
＝ "This day は [...]"
＝今日（こんにち）"today; this day; now day"
＝今（こん）"now; this current ...; this"
＋日（にち）"sun; day"
＋は（"wa"）[particle, marking the topic (contrast implied)]
＋[...] (unspoken, set phrase-like remark about that topic)
こんばんは（今晩は）
＝ "This evening は [...]"
＝今晩（こんばん）"tonight; this evening; now evening"
＝今（こん）"now (this)"
＋晩（ばん）"nightfall; night; evening"
＋は（"wa"）[particle, marking the topic (contrast implied)]
＋[...] (unspoken, set phrase-like remark about that topic)- ↑Just how I see it. (Maybe completely wrong.) ^^
always a pleasure
Ohaiyou gozaimasu means good morning (formal) in casual conversation it can be shortened to just ohaiyou.
Konnichi wa? Good afternoon.
Kon (this) nichi (day) wa? (How is it?)
Literal translation: how is your day?
Konban wa? Means good evening.
Kon (this) ban (evening/night) wa? (How is it?)
Literally means how is your evening/night?
The phrases actually have their origin in how people used to greet each other. こんにちは was the start of a sentence that was a common greeting: 今日はご機嫌いかがですか。which means "How are you feeling today?" (or literally "How is your mood today?")
But we humans are lazy, so we abbreviate things. Hence just こんにちは and こんばんは. With おはよう (or おはようございます), it's originally spelled お早う, meaning "It's early!"
Hope that helps!- very thorough
Thank you
