臍を噛む
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 臍 | 噛 |
| ほぞ Hyōgai |
か Hyōgai |
| kun'yomi | |
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 臍を嚙む (kyūjitai) 臍を噬む (rare) |
Alternative forms
- 臍を食う (hozo o kuu, literally “to eat one's navel”)
Etymology
Phrase composed of 臍 (hozo, “navel, bellybutton”) + を (o, object particle) + 噛む (kamu, “to bite, to chew on”).[1][2][3] Compare English chew on one's nails, nail biter.
First cited to a text from 852.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ho̞zo̞ o̞ ka̠mɯ̟]
Verb
臍を噛む • (hozo o kamu) godan (stem 臍を噛み (hozo o kami), past 臍を噛んだ (hozo o kanda))
- (literal) to bite one's own navel
- [from 852] (idiomatic) to worry about something that hasn't happened yet; to deeply regret something that has already happened
- From the 吾妻鏡 (Azuma Kagami),[2] early 1300s:
- なほ宥し沙汰有らんと欲するの処、今自殺し畢んぬ。後悔臍を食むも益無し
- Nafo yurushi sata aran to yokusuru no tokoro, ima jisatsu shi owannu. Kōkwai hozo wo kamu mo yaku nashi
- They wanted to be forgiven and for the matter to be resolved, and now they've committed suicide and things are finished. There's no sense regretting it and chewing on your nails.
- なほ宥し沙汰有らんと欲するの処、今自殺し畢んぬ。後悔臍を食むも益無し
- From the 吾妻鏡 (Azuma Kagami),[2] early 1300s:
Conjugation
| Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mizenkei ("imperfective") | 臍を噛ま | ほぞをかま | hozo o kama |
| Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | 臍を噛み | ほぞをかみ | hozo o kami |
| Shūshikei ("terminal") | 臍を噛む | ほぞをかむ | hozo o kamu |
| Rentaikei ("attributive") | 臍を噛む | ほぞをかむ | hozo o kamu |
| Kateikei ("hypothetical") | 臍を噛め | ほぞをかめ | hozo o kame |
| Meireikei ("imperative") | 臍を噛め | ほぞをかめ | hozo o kame |
| Key constructions | |||
| Passive | 臍を噛まれる | ほぞをかまれる | hozo o kamareru |
| Causative | 臍を噛ませる 臍を噛ます |
ほぞをかませる ほぞをかます |
hozo o kamaseru hozo o kamasu |
| Potential | 臍を噛める | ほぞをかめる | hozo o kameru |
| Volitional | 臍を噛もう | ほぞをかもう | hozo o kamō |
| Negative | 臍を噛まない | ほぞをかまない | hozo o kamanai |
| Negative continuative | 臍を噛まず | ほぞをかまず | hozo o kamazu |
| Formal | 臍を噛みます | ほぞをかみます | hozo o kamimasu |
| Perfective | 臍を噛んだ | ほぞをかんだ | hozo o kanda |
| Conjunctive | 臍を噛んで | ほぞをかんで | hozo o kande |
| Hypothetical conditional | 臍を噛めば | ほぞをかめば | hozo o kameba |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “臍を噛む”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten][1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
- ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN