おめでとう

Japanese

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) おめでとー [òmédétóó] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
IPA^(key): [o̞me̞de̞to̞ː]

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
御目出度う御芽出度うお目出度うお芽出度う

/omedetaku/ → /omedetau/ → /omedetɔː/ → /omedetoː/

Originally a compound of 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 愛でたく (medetaku, “admirably, auspiciously”), from adjective 愛でたい (medetai, “admirable, auspicious”).^[2]^[3]^[1]

Modern Japanese -i adjectives formerly ended in -ki for the attributive form. This medial /k/ dropped out during the Muromachi period, both for the attributive form (-ki becoming -i) and for the adverbial form (-ku becoming -u). However, the adverbial form reverted back to -ku thereafter for most words, with the -u ending persisting in certain everyday set expressions, such as arigatō, ohayō, or omedetō, and in hyper-formal speech.

Interjection

おめでとう • (omedetō) ^{←おめでたう (omedetau)^?}

congratulations, congrats

Usage notes

Most often written in hiragana. May occasionally be seen spelled in kanji, generally for more formal writing. The kanji spellings are examples of ateji. Usually followed by ございます (gozaimasu, “it is”, formal) in less casual contexts.^[2]^[3]^[1]

Derived terms

おめでとうございます (omedetō gozaimasu): congratulations
明(あ)けましておめでとう (akemashite omedetō): happy New Year
誕生日(たんじょうび)おめでとう (tanjōbi omedetō): happy birthday

Etymology 2

A pun on the congratulatory meaning of omedetō, using the common kanji spelling of 御目出 for the omede- portion and spelling the final -tō with the character 糖 (tō, “sugar”).^[2]^[3]^[1]

Noun