いにしえ

Japanese

Etymology

Alternative spellings
古 往にしへ 去にしへ

/inisipe₁/ > /inisiɸe/ > /inisiwe/ > /inisie/. Literally "that which has passed". From the verb 往ぬ (inu, “pass”) in adverbial form ini, the past marker き (ki) in attributive form si, and へ (pe, “time, direction”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いにしえ [ìníshíé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [iɲ̟iɕie̞]

Noun

いにしえ • (inishie) ^{←いにしへ (inisife)?}

1. the past
2. ancient times