彼奴

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
あ Grade: S	やつ > いつ Grade: S
kun'yomi	irregular

/ajat͡su/ → /ait͡su/

Shift from older ayatsu reading below. Appears from at least the 1500s.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) あいつ [àítsú] (Heiban – [0])^[3]^[5]^[4]
IPA^(key): [a̠it͡sɨ]

(Kyōto, Ōsaka) あいつ [àìtsú] (Teiki – [0])

Pronoun

彼(あ)奴(いつ) • (aitsu)

(informal) that guy, girl, or thing over there
あいつ本(ほん)当(とう)嫌(きら)い。
Aitsu hontō kirai.
I really hate that guy/girl.
- 1988 July 30 [1984 July 25], Fujiko F. Fujio, “ふたりぼっち [Altwo]”, in ポストの中の明日 [Post-Mid-Tomorrow] (藤子不二雄少年SF短編集; 2), 10th edition, volume 2 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 177:
  「足(あし)腰(こし)をきたえてあ(﹅)い(﹅)つ(﹅)をぶん投(な)げてみたかったんだ」
  “Ashikoshi o kitaete AITSU o bunnagete mitakatta n da”
  “I trained my legs so that I could beat HIM in wrestling”
- 2002 March 9, Yumi Hotta with Obata, Takeshi, “第(だい)131(ひゃくさんじゅういち)局(きょく)　試(ため)される伊(い)角(すみ) [Game 131: Isumi’s Endeavor]”, in ヒカルの碁 [Hikaru’s Go], volume 16 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 68:
  
  楽(レェ)平(ピン)⁉アイツに負(ま)けた⁉
  Rē Pin⁉ Aitsu ni maketa⁉
  Le Ping!? You lost to that brat!?

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory, or used to poke fun at someone as between close friends.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
あ Grade: S	やつ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Compound of 彼 (a, “that, over there”, distal pronoun, indicating something far from both speaker and listener) +‎ 奴 (yatsu, “guy, girl, thing”). Appears from the mid-1200s.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) あやつ [àyátsú] (Heiban – [0])^[3]^[4]
(Tokyo) あやつ [áꜜyàtsù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3]
(Tokyo) あやつ [àyáꜜtsù] (Nakadaka – [2])^[4]
IPA^(key): [a̠ja̠t͡sɨ]

Pronoun

彼(あ)奴(やつ) • (ayatsu)

(informal, dated) that guy, girl, or thing over there

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory.

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
きゃつ
Grade: S	Grade: S
irregular

/kajat͡su/ → /kjat͡su/

Shift from older kayatsu below. Appears from the early 1200s.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) きゃつ [kyáꜜtsù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [kʲa̠t͡sɨ]

Pronoun

彼奴(きゃつ) • (kyatsu)

(informal, men's speech) that guy, girl, or thing over there
- 2014, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire:
  
  きゃつらめ……　数(すう)千(せん)年(ねん)前(まえ)の　異(い)常(じょう)気(き)象(しょう)を　調(しら)べて　どうするつもりだ……
  Kyatsurame…… sū-sen-nen-mae no ijō kishō o shirabete dō suru tsumori da……
  What on earth are they up to, investigating extreme weather that happened thousands of years ago?

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory, or used to poke fun at someone as between close friends.

Derived terms

彼奴(きゃつ)輩(ばら) (kyatsubara)

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
か Grade: S	やつ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Compound of 彼 (ka, “that, over there”, distal pronoun, indicating something far from both speaker and listener; precursor to modern a) +‎ 奴 (yatsu, “guy, girl, thing”). Appears from the late 900s.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ka̠ja̠t͡sɨ]

Pronoun

彼(か)奴(やつ) • (kayatsu)

(archaic, possibly obsolete) that guy, girl, or thing over there

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory.

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
か Grade: S	やつ > いつ Grade: S
kun'yomi	irregular

/kajat͡su/ → /kait͡su/

Shift from older kayatsu above. Appears during the Muromachi period (1336–1573), then falls out of use.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ka̠it͡sɨ]

Pronoun

彼(か)奴(いつ) • (kaitsu)

(obsolete) that guy, girl, or thing over there

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory.

Japanese demonstratives
	ko- “this” (close to speaker)	so- “that” (close to listener)	a- “that over there” (far from both)	do- “which” (indeterminate, question)
Object	これ (kore)	それ (sore)	あれ (are)	どれ (dore)
Object	これら (korera)	それら (sorera)	あれら (arera)	—
Determiner	この (kono)	その (sono)	あの (ano)	どの (dono)
Determiner	これらの (korera no)	それらの (sorera no)	あれらの (arera no)	—
Kind	こんな (konna)	そんな (sonna)	あんな (anna)	どんな (donna)
Kind	こういう (kō iu)	そういう (sō iu)	ああいう (ā iu)	どういう (dō iu)
Place	ここ (koko)	そこ (soko)	あそこ (asoko)*	どこ (doko)
Place	こっから (kokkara)	そっから (sokkara)	—	どっから (dokkara)
Direction / Human	こちら (kochira)	そちら (sochira)	あちら (achira)	どちら (dochira)
Direction / Human	こなた (konata)	そなた (sonata)	あなた (anata)	どなた (donata)
Direction	こっち (kotchi)	そっち (sotchi)	あっち (atchi)	どっち (dotchi)
Human	こいつ (koitsu)^†	そいつ (soitsu)^†	あいつ (aitsu)^†	どいつ (doitsu)^†
Manner	こう (kō)	そう (sō)	ああ (ā)**	どう (dō)
Degree	これくらい (kore kurai)	それくらい (sore kurai)	あれくらい (are kurai)	どれくらい (dore kurai)
	これだけ (kore dake)	それだけ (sore dake)	あれだけ (are dake)	どれだけ (dore dake)
	これほど (kore hodo)	それほど (sore hodo)	あれほど (are hodo)	どれほど (dore hodo)

* irregular
** regular (long vowel)
† potentially rude or derogatory

The kanji 此(こ) (ko), 其(そ) (so), 彼(あ) (a), and 何(ど) (do) can be used for determiners, but they are almost always spelled in hiragana.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 ^3.6 ^3.7 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 ^4.4 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

“〈彼奴〉”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJS-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 ^3.6 ^3.7 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[SMK5-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 ^4.4 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-5] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Japanese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

See also

References