しかし

Japanese

Etymology 1
Alternative spellings 然し
併し

/ɕikari ɕi/ → /ɕikaɕɕi/ → /ɕikaɕi/

Originally 然り (shikari, “being like so”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of classical verb 然り (shikari, “to be like so”)) + し (shi, the 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of past recollective auxiliary き (ki)). This abbreviated from shikari shi to shikasshi, and then shortened further to shikashi.

The initial sense may have been parseable as that [preceding statement] being so, ..., much like English phrases such as be that as it may or that said, followed by a statement in opposition to the earlier statement.

Pronunciation

Conjunction

しかし (rōmaji shikashi)

  1. but, however
    • 1911, 与謝野晶子, 産屋物語:
      しかし男 (おとこ)は必 (かなら)ずしもそうと限 (かぎ)りません。
      Shikashi otoko wa kanarazu shi mo sō to kagirimasen.
      But men are not always like that.
Alternative forms
  • (informal, emphatic) しっかし (shikkashi)

Etymology 2
For pronunciation and definitions of しかし – see the following entries.
【私窩子】
[noun]prostitute
【私窠子】
(This term, しかし, is the hiragana spelling of several Sino-Japanese terms.)

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
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