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あー・あ・やー

aa · a · yaa

Pronunciation: [-a(ː)], [-u(ː)]

Definition

Suffix

  1. A suffix used to indicate the subject of an adjective, noun or nominalized verb, akin to "-man", "-er" or "person" in English. Note that this suffix may coalesce or replace the vowel of the preceding term:
    1. ないち naichi "mainland"  ⇒ ないちゃー naichaa "mainlander"
    2. でぃきらん (< *ぬ) dikiran (< *nu) "unable" ⇒ でぃきらんぬー dikirannuu "person who can't do anything", "idiot"
    3. たんち tanchi "quick temper" ⇒ たんちゃー tanchaa "quick-tempered person"
    4. いふーな ifuuna "odd, suspicious" ⇒ いふーなー ifuunaa "odd or suspicious person"
    5. てーふ teefu "joke" ⇒ てーふぁー teefaa "jokester, joker, humorist"
    6. もーい mooi "a dance" ⇒ もーやー mooyaa "dancer"
  2. Used to indicate the provenance of a person:
    1. 糸満 ichuman "Itoman" ⇒ いちゅまなー ichumanaa "a person from Itoman"
    2. アメリカ amerika "United States" ⇒ アメリカー amerikaa "an American"
    3. 山原 yanbaru "Yanbaru" ⇒ やんばらー yanbaraa "someone from the Yanbaru region"
    4. 大和 yamatu "Yamato (Japan)" ⇒ やまとぅー yamatuu "a person from Yamato (Japan), a Japanese person"
  3. (Colloquial) Used to denote fanatics, adepts or devotees of a certain product, artist, fashion style or famous person:
    1. Chanel ⇒ シャネラー shaneraa (someone who likes to use Chanel products)
    2. Namie Amuro ⇒ アムラー amuraa (a fan of Namie Amuro, of her style)

Etymology

Uncertain. Of multiple possible origins:

  • From the Hokkien diminutive suffix 仔 á, pervasively used with nouns (e.g. 囡仔 gín-á "child", 錶仔 pió-á "watch", 鴨仔 ah-á "duck"), as well as with verbs and adjectives to turn them into nouns (e.g. 矮仔 é-á "short person", 抿仔 bín-á "brush").
  • From a fused morpheme cognate with standard Japanese 【屋・家】 ya, generally meaning "shop", "place of (something)", "person who works (at a shop)", "person who works (as something)", "person with a certain trait".
  • From a fusion with the derogatory noun ひゃー hyaa "fellow, rascal, guy", as in くにひゃー kunihyaa "this guy", うにひゃー unihyaa "that guy", あにひゃー anihyaa "that guy over there", and たにひゃー tanihyaa "what guy".
  • From a fused topic particle (や ya in modern Okinawan).
  • In the case of sense 3, from the English suffix -er (as in teacher, loafer and northerner), assimilated into Japanese and Okinawan as あー aa.

Historical attestations for both the diminutive and person suffixes:

  • 混効験集 Konkoukenshuu (1711), "Words of the Royal Palace", records the following words with a final -a vowel shift: "「まや」猫", "「むまか」孫の事" and "「ひゝじや」羊之事".
  • Vocabulary of the language spoken at the Great Loo-Choo island in the Japan Sea (1818), by Herbert John Clifford, records the example "Lizard, U'ndlecha" [= andachaa].
  • Essay in Aid of a Grammmar and Dictionary of the Luchuan Language (1895), by Basil Hall Chamberlain, records the example "Gunā, lame [person]" (compare Okinawan ぐーに guuni "lame person" and Japanese ぐんにゃり gunnyari "limp").
  • 沖縄語典 Okinawa goten (Okinawan language dictionary) (1896), by Masayo Nakamoto, records a number of examples of both the person suffix and diminutive suffix in use, such as "「りちやー、ちからー」力人(チカラビト)", "「はち、はちやー」蜂(ハチ)" or "「あたびちやー」蛙(カエル)".
  • 沖縄語辞典 Okinawa-go jiten (1963) records a number of examples of both the person suffix and diminutive suffix in use, such as ないちゃー naichaa "mainlander".
  • The person suffix -a(a) and its variant -u(u) are reported by Midori Ōsumi (2001), Fija Byron (2009), Zachary Read (2010), Josef Holmér (2013), and Mark Anderson and Patrick Heinrich (2014), among others.

Notes

Several sources suggest that this suffix historically carried a derogatory connotation. This would explain its absence in some older records.

This suffix is likely the same as the diminutive ending –a(a) observed with many animal names in Okinawan, especially those ending in the vowel -i. Examples include あたびち atabichi and あたびちゃー atabichaa "frog", なみむし namimushi and なみむさー namimusaa "slug", あがち agachi and あがちゃー agachaa "Okinawa rail bird", etc.

Spelling

OrthographyForm
Kanaあー

やー
Romanizationaa
a
yaa
Pronunciation (IPA)[-a(ː)], [-u(ː)]

意味:ひと・じん・にん・と【人】、しゃ【者】

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あー
Cite this entry: Read, Zachary. (2025, January 18). あー・あ・やー : aa · a · yaa | define meaning. JLect: Japonic Languages and Dialects Database. Retrieved 2025, January 21, from https://www.jlect.com/entry/135/aa-a-yaa/.