The Historical Change of the Meaning of Mizu-kusai : Focusing on the Coexistence with Mizu-ppoi

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  • 水クサイの意味変化 : 水ッポイとの共存過程から考える
  • ミズ クサイ ノ イミ ヘンカ : ミズ ッポイ ト ノ キョウゾン カテイ カラ カンガエル

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Abstract

This paper demonstrates the historical change of the meaning of the word mizu-kusai (mizu 'water', -kusai 'smell of'), focusing on the coexistence with the synonym mizu-ppoi (-ppoi '-ish'). In Modern Japanese, mizu-ppoi expresses the literal meaning of 'watery', and mizu-kusai simply expresses the metaphorical meaning of 'not frank, reserved'. Mizu-kusai appeared at the end of the first half of the medieval period, and originally expressed the literal meaning of 'watery', especially the meaning "(sake) to be thin". By the first half of the early modern period, it expanded to mean "(food) to be tasteless, thin, weak" and developed the metaphorical meaning "(person) not to be frank". In the Edo dialect, which was to become the central dialect of Japan in the latter half of the early modern period, the synonym mizu-ppoi had already been used to express the literal meaning, and therefore the meaning of mizu-kusai had been limited to the metaphorical one.

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