Neko (Cat)

Mar 11, 2017 12:52
Today I will talk about the Japanese word "neko," which means "cat."

There are several etymologies, but widely accepted ones are the following:

・Abbreviation of "nekoma"

It is said that originally neko was called "nekoma," and it became to "neko" for short.

As the reason why it was called nekoma, there are several theories -- one is that "ma," which means "beast" was attached to "neko," which is an abbreviation of "yoku neru ko" (a child who get a good sleep) .

・Deformation of the sound of a cat

Formerly in Japan, we referred to the sound of a cat as "neu neu."

It is also said that by attaching "ko," which is a suffix word that represents familiarity, to the "ne" of "neu neu," the word "neko" was born.


今日は「猫」という単語の語源について紹介します。

語源は諸説ありますが、有力なものは以下の二つです。

・「ネコマ」の省略

かつて「猫」は「ネコマ」と呼ばれていたそうで、これを省略して「猫」になったと考えられています。

「ネコマ」と呼ばれた理由としては、よく寝る子「寝子」に獣を意味する「マ」をつけたとする説や、寝る熊から「ネクマ」、「ネコマ」となったとする説があります。

・鳴き声の変形

かつて日本では、猫の鳴き声を「ねうねう」と表していました。

この「ね」に、親しみを表す接尾語の「こ」をつけて「猫」となったとも考えられています。
No. 1 Cecelia13
  • There are several etymologies, but widely accepted ones are the following:
  • There are several etymologies, but the following are widely accepted ones:
  • It is said that originally neko was called "nekoma," and it became to "neko" for short.
  • It is said that originally neko was called "nekoma," and it became to "neko" for short.

Interesting!

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post!
Sorry for the late reply.
No. 2 JayfeatherRex
  • Neko (Cat)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Today I will talk about the Japanese word "neko," which means "cat."
  • Today I will talk about the Japanese word "neko," which means "cat."
  • There are several etymologies, but widely accepted ones are the following:
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • ・Abbreviation of "nekoma"
  • an abbreviation Abbreviation of "nekoma"

    What is this dot? It doesn't exist in English writing as far as I know.

    For colons, whatever follows it will nearly always be lower-cased.

    Note: As I read on, I realized the dot was sort of like a bullet point list. This doesn't really work in normal writing, especially when you break it up like what you did. This probably the best way to say it: "...but widely accepted ones are the following: an abbreviation of 'nekoma' and a deformation of the sound of a cat."

  • As the reason why it was called nekoma, there are several theories -- one is that "ma," which means "beast" was attached to "neko," which is an abbreviation of "yoku neru ko" (a child who get a good sleep) .
  • As for the reason why it was called nekoma, there are several theories -- one is that "ma," which means "beast" was attached to "neko," which is an abbreviation of "yoku neru ko" (a child who gets get a good sleep).

    (in blue)
    Sounds a bit odd because you're referencing something within the commas.
    -->Within the commas = talking about the specific thing mentioned immediately before
    -->After the commas = talking about the specific thing mentioned before commas
    Saying "which" twice doesn't work in this case.

  • ・Deformation of the sound of a cat
  • Deformation of the sound of a cat

    Reference before correction about the first bullet point.

  • Formerly in Japan, we referred to the sound of a cat as "neu neu."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • It is also said that by attaching "ko," which is a suffix word that represents familiarity, to the "ne" of "neu neu," the word "neko" was born.
  • It is also said that by attaching "ko," which is a suffix word that represents familiarity, to the "ne" of "neu neu," the word "neko" was born.

    This is phrased awkwardly. I'm a little confused so I don't know how to rephrase it.

Toru
Thank you so much always for correcting my post!
And sorry for my obscure sentences.

> What is this dot?
As you say in your note, I wanted to express a bullet point list. Next time, I'd like to use colons.

> I'm a little confused so I don't know how to rephrase it.
I wanted to say something like:
The word "neko" was born by attaching "ko" to "ne".
Where "ko" is a suffix word that implies familiarity, and "ne" is an abbreviation for "neu neu" (the sound of a cat).
JayfeatherRex
No problem!

A pretty easy fix for that would be to say something like, "Also, it is said that the word, 'neko,' was created by combining 'ne' and 'ko,' where 'ko' is a suffix that implies familiarity, and "ne" is an abbreviation for 'neu neu.'"
Another note: The reason I'm using single quotes (' ') instead of double quotes (" ") in some places is because of how quotations are done. If you aren't familiar with this, I can explain it.