お前

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
前
まえ Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
御前

From 御(お) (o, honorific prefix) + 前(まえ) (mae, “front”), literally "honourable presence in front of me". Originally a polite pronoun applied to highly respected persons such as emperors or gods.

First attested in the early 900s.

Alternative forms

• (standard Japanese)
  • (informal) おめえ (omē)
• (dialect)
  • おめえ (omē), おめ (ome), (Nagoya eye dialect) おみゃあ (omyā)
  • おまえさん (omae-san)
    • おまいさん (omai-san), おめえさん (omē-san), おめさん (ome-san)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おまえ [òmáé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [o̞ma̠e̞]

Pronoun

お前(まえ) • (omae) ^{←おまへ (omafe)?}

1. [from early 900s] (informal, men's speech; or dialect) you
   • 1915, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, 羅生門 [Rashōmon]:

     己(おれ)は檢(け)非(び)違(ゐ)使(し)の廳(ちやう)の役(やく)人(にん)などではない。今(いま)し方(がた)この門(もん)の下(した)を通(とほ)りかゝつた旅(たび)の者(もの)だ。だからお前(まえ)に繩(なわ)をかけて、どうしようと云(い)ふやうな事(こと)はない。

     Ore wa kebiishi no chō no yakunin nado de wa nai. Imashigata kono mon no shita o tōrikakatta tabi no mono da. Dakara omae ni nawa o kakete, dō shiyō to iu yō na koto wa nai.

     I am not an official of law enforcement, but simply a traveller who's happened to come across this gate a few moments ago. I'm not here to bind you in ropes or any nonsense of the sort.

Usage notes

• Slightly condescending if used by a higher status peer to refer to a lower status peer, very informal between close equal-status peers; impolite in other situations.
• In many Japanese dialects, it is rather the standard 2nd-person pronoun, equivalent in usage to standard Japanese あなた (anata).

Derived terms

• お前(まえ)さん (omaesan)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
前
めえ Grade: 2
irregular

/omae/ → /omeː/

Corruption of お前(まえ) (omae). First attested in 1777.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おめえ [òméé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [o̞me̞ː]

Pronoun

お前(めえ) or お前(め) • (omē or ome) 

1. [from 1777] (dialectal, Edo, Tōhoku) you (standard second-person pronoun)