あそこ

Japanese

Etymology

Shift from earlier あしこ (ashiko). The asoko form appears in the Utsubo Monogatari of the late 900s, during the Heian period.[1]

Pronunciation

Pronoun

あそこ (rōmaji asoko)

  1. (deictically) that place, area, or part over there (far from the speaker and the addressee)
     (わたし)子供 (こども)あそこ (あそ)んでいますよ。
    Watashi no kodomo wa asoko de asonde imasu yo.
    My child is playing there.
  2. (deictically) that organization or team over there (far from the speaker and the addressee)
  3. (anaphorically) that place, area, or part we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know)
  4. (anaphorically) that organization or team we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know)
  5. (slang, by extension from the sense of “down there”) genitals

Usage notes

  • The hiragana spelling あそこ is preferred to the kanji spelling 彼処, which is rarely used.
  • あそこ, as a meaning of place, is mostly followed by some particles with verbs as follows.
    あそこ: with verbs of movement (go, come, move, transfer, ...) or verbs of existence(be, exist, stay, ...).
    あそこ: with verbs of movement (go, come, move, transfer, ...).
    あそこ: with the other verbs.

See also

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  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
  4. 1974, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Second Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō
  5. 2002, 京阪系アクセント辞典 (A Dictionary of Tone on Words of the Keihan-type Dialects) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Bensei, →ISBN
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