甲斐

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 甲斐(かい) (Kai).

甲斐

1. (～市) Kai (a city in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan)
2. an orthographic borrowing of the Japanese surname 甲斐, Kai

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Man'yōshū of 759.^[1]

Derived from the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 代(か)う (kau, “to exchange or replace one thing with another”),^[1][2] with the basic sense being "that which should be the result, outcome, or replacement".^[1]

• (Tokyo) かい [kàí] (Heiban – [0])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠i]

甲(か)斐(い) • (kai) ^{←かひ (kafi)?}

1. value, reward, avail, being fruitful or worth doing

• 甲(が)斐(い) (-gai, suffix)
• 不(ふ)甲(が)斐(い)ない (fugainai)

甲(か)斐(い) • (Kai) ^{←かひ (Kafi)?}

1. Kai (a city in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan)
2. Kai (a historical province of Japan, roughly corresponding to present-day Yamanashi Prefecture)

   Synonyms: 甲斐国 (Kai no kuni), 甲州 (Kōshu)

3. a surname
4. a male given name

Shift from 甲(か)斐(い) (kai). The kai changes to gai as an instance of rendaku (連(れん)濁(だく)).^[3][4][5][6]

First attested in a text from 1797.^[4]

• IPA^(key): [ɡa̠i]

• The pitch accent depends on the entire suffixed term.

甲(が)斐(い) • (-gai) ^{←がひ (-gafi)?}

1. value, reward, avail, being fruitful or worth doing

   生(い)きがいのある人生(じんせい)を送(おく)る

   ikigai no aru jinsei o okuru

   to live a life worth living

• IPA^(key): [ka̠çi]

甲(か)斐(ひ) • (Kahi) 

1. a surname

• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːçi]

甲(こう)斐(ひ) • (Kōhi) 

1. a surname

• “〈甲^▲斐〉”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[4] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026