うまい
Japanese
[edit]| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 上手い 巧い 美味い 旨い 甘い 味い (rare) 美い (rare) 甘美い (rare) |
Etymology
[edit]From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[1] Sometimes reconstructed as Proto-Japonic *uma.
The ultimate derivation remains unclear. The term occasionally appears in texts from the Heian period (794–1185 CE) with the phonetic spelling mumashi (in the classical terminal form),[2] suggesting a possible pronunciation of */mmasi/ with an emphasized initial /mm/ sound, similar to the reconstructed readings for 馬 (*mma, “horse”) and 梅 (*mme, “plum”). The resulting reconstructed adjective stem of *mma- could indicate a derivation from onomatopoeia; compare English mmm as an expression of approval for something tasty.
Alternatively, umai is listed in some sources[3] as perhaps deriving from verb 熟む (umu, “to ripen, to become ripe”). There is a derived compound term where the meaning is clearly from the adjective, and the spelling uses the 熟 kanji from the verb. However, the verb does not appear in historical sources with an emphatic initial /mm/, and it seems to be cognate with 膿む (umu, “to fester, to fill with pus, to produce pus”, intransitive),[4] possibly also with 生む, 産む (umu, “to bear, to give birth to; to produce”, transitive).
Reconstructed by Samuel Martin as Proto-Japonic *ma-.[5]
Pronunciation
[edit]- Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「うまい」
| Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary | |||
| Stem forms | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Continuative (連用形) | うまく | うまく うまく |
[úꜜmàkù] [ùmáꜜkù] |
| Terminal (終止形) | うまい | うまい | [ùmáꜜì] |
| Attributive (連体形) | うまい | うまい | [ùmáꜜì] |
| Key constructions | |||
| Informal negative | うまくない | うまくない うまくない |
[úꜜmàkùnàì] [ùmáꜜkùnàì] |
| Informal past | うまかった | うまかった うまかった |
[úꜜmàkàttà] [ùmáꜜkàttà] |
| Informal negative past | うまくなかった | うまくなかった うまくなかった |
[úꜜmàkùnàkàttà] [ùmáꜜkùnàkàttà] |
| Formal | うまいです | うまいです | [ùmáꜜìdèsù] |
| Conjunctive | うまくて | うまくて うまくて |
[úꜜmàkùtè] [ùmáꜜkùtè] |
| Conditional | うまければ | うまければ うまければ |
[úꜜmàkèrèbà] [ùmáꜜkèrèbà] |
Adjective
[edit]うまい • (umai) -i (adverbial うまく (umaku))
- 上手い, 巧い: good at something, skillful
- Synonym: 上手 (jōzu)
- 君の日本語がうまいな。
- Kimi no Nihongo ga umai na.
- Your Japanese is good.
- 彼はテニスがうまい。
- Kare wa tenisu ga umai.
- He's good at tennis.
- 美味い, 旨い, 甘い, 甘美い: delicious, tasty
- Synonym: 美味しい (oishii)
- 飯がうまい。
- Meshi ga umai.
- The meal is delicious.
- 旨い: favorable, preferable, good
- 旨い: profitable
- 株式仲買人とはうまい仕事ですよ。
- Kabushikinakagainin to wa umai shigoto desu yo.
- Being a stockbroker is profitable work.
- 株式仲買人とはうまい仕事ですよ。
- (uncommon) 旨い: thoughtless, foolish, lackadaisical, slipshod, short-sighted
Usage notes
[edit]This term is more common in masculine speech, and may have more casual connotations. The common gender-neutral and polite term for the skillful sense is 上手 (jōzu), and for the delicious sense, 美味しい (oishii).[8][9]
Inflection
[edit]| Stem forms | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperfective (未然形) | うまかろ | umakaro | |
| Continuative (連用形) | うまく | umaku | |
| Terminal (終止形) | うまい | umai | |
| Attributive (連体形) | うまい | umai | |
| Hypothetical (仮定形) | うまけれ | umakere | |
| Imperative (命令形) | うまかれ | umakare | |
| Key constructions | |||
| Informal negative | うまくない | umaku nai | |
| Informal past | うまかった | umakatta | |
| Informal negative past | うまくなかった | umaku nakatta | |
| Formal | うまいです | umai desu | |
| Formal negative | うまくないです | umaku nai desu | |
| Formal past | うまかったです | umakatta desu | |
| Formal negative past | うまくなかったです | umaku nakatta desu | |
| Conjunctive | うまくて | umakute | |
| Conditional | うまければ | umakereba | |
| Provisional | うまかったら | umakattara | |
| Volitional | うまかろう | umakarō | |
| Adverbial | うまく | umaku | |
| Degree | うまさ | umasa | |
Derived terms
[edit]- うまい (umai) (熟寝, 熟睡, 味寝): a deep sleep, a refreshing sleep
- うまいい (umaii) (味飯): tasty rice
- うまうま (umauma) (旨旨): (baby talk) tasty, delicious; milk; the mother's breast
- うまき (umaki) (味酒): delicious saké
- うまくさい (umakusai) (旨臭い): smelling delicious; seeming favorable
- うまくち (umakuchi) (甘口): sweet flavor (as of a wine or sauce, in contrast to dry or sour); convincing words, flattery
- うまさ (umasa) (旨さ): deliciousness, tastiness
- うまさけ (umasake), うまざけ (umazake) (旨酒, 味酒, 美酒): delicious saké
- うまに (umani) (甘煮, 旨煮): sweet nimono (a kind of traditional Japanese simmered dish)
- うまひと (umahito) (味人, 貴人): someone from a good family; a noble, an aristocrat
- うまみ (umami) (旨味): taste, flavor; savor, savoriness; attractiveness, charm; profit
- うまら (umara) (旨ら, 甘ら, 美ら): (archaic) delicious, tasty; pleasant, comfortable
References
[edit]- ^ , text here
- ^ “旨・甘・味・美”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten][1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
- ^ Gogen Allguide, entry here (in Japanese)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ Samuel E. Martin (1987) The Japanese Language Through Time, New Haven, London: Yale University Press, →ISBN
- ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
- ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
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