さま
Japanese[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 様 方 状 |
From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of さ (sa, “that”, pronominal indicating a person, place, thing, or direction in the middle distance) + ま (ma, “likeness, way, similarity”, suffix indicating a quality).[1]
Alternative forms[edit]
- ざま (-zama) (when used as a suffix in some combinations)
Pronunciation[edit]
(with rendaku when used as a suffix in some combinations)
Noun[edit]
- a person's appearance (as of body, or style, or face, etc.)
- the state or situation of a thing
- 鋭敏。感覚が鋭いこと。また、そのさま。[1]
- Eibin. Kankaku ga surudoi koto. Mata, sono sama.
- Eibin. For the senses to be sharp. Or, the state of being such.
- 鋭敏。感覚が鋭いこと。また、そのさま。[1]
- the general trend, tenor, or feel of a thing
- one's social station, status, or quality
- the way or means of doing something, how one does something
- the reason or circumstances for something
Derived terms[edit]
Pronoun[edit]
- (archaic, honorific) second-person pronoun: you, you all
- (archaic, honorific) third-person distal pronoun: he, she, they (distant from both speaker and listener)
Usage notes[edit]
Used primarily by women of the red-light districts of the Edo period.[1]
The pronoun senses have largely fallen into disuse. These originated as abbreviations of longer forms 君様 (kimisama, literally “lord + that way”), 方様 (katasama, literally “that side + that way”), or 貴様 (kisama, literally “noble + that way”), with the -sama suffix (see below) developing into an independent use.
Suffix[edit]
- (honorific) polite personal suffix: honorable, Mr., Ms.
- Synonym: (polite) さん (san)
- 吉田様が来られました。
- Yoshida-sama ga koraremashita.
- Mr. [honorable] Yoshida has come here.
- (honorific) attaching to nouns or other nominals: a politeness marker that often has no direct translation, replacing copula です (desu)
- Synonym: (polite) さん (san)
- ご苦労様。
- Gokurō-sama.
- You have done well [honorable].
- attaching to specific nouns or other nominals: that way, that direction
- 逆様、横様
- sakasama, yokosama
- backwards, sideways
- 逆様、横様
- (archaic) attaching to verbs: just as (indicating the specific time when the verb is happening)
- attaching to verbs: the way of doing something, how one does something (often undergoes rendaku, changing -sama to -zama)
- 座り様
- suwarisama
- how one sits
- 座り様
Usage notes[edit]
The honorific senses developed out of euphemistic use of the noun sense of sama, “that way”, as an oblique form of reference, starting from around the Muromachi period.[1]
The -sama suffix after personal names is more respectful than the everyday さん (-san), and is generally only used when being very polite. Gender-neutral. This is sometimes glossed as honorable, but honorable is also used as a title, such as for judges or governors or certain ranks of nobility, whereas -sama is purely about politeness and relative social closeness.
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
| For pronunciation and definitions of さま – see the following entry. | ||
| ||
| (This term, さま, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as さま, see Category:Japanese kanji read as さま.) |
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