兎に角

Japanese edit

Kanji in this term
兎	角
と Jinmeiyō (ateji)	かく Grade: 2 (ateji)
on’yomi

Etymology edit

Shift from とにかくに (to ni kaku ni), itself composed of と (to, “in that way”) +‎ に (ni, particle) +‎ 斯く (kaku, “in this way”) +‎ に (ni, particle).^[1]^[2]

The kanji spelling literally means “horns on a rabbit”, but this is merely ateji (当て字). It is perhaps an allusion to Literary Chinese 龜毛兔角 (guīmáotùjiǎo, “an impossibility”, literally “hair on a turtle, horns on a rabbit”).

Pronunciation edit

(Tokyo) とにかく [tóꜜnìkàkù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [to̞ɲ̟ika̠kɯ̟ᵝ]

Adverb edit

兎(と)に角(かく) • (tonikaku)

anyway, anyhow, in any case, be that as it may

Usage notes edit

This term is more commonly written in hiragana, as とにかく.

Synonyms edit

Related terms edit

References edit

^ 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 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: 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), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

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

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] 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), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

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