Japanese edit

Etymology 1 edit

Compound of (da, the plain-form copula or "to be" verb) +‎ (emphatic particle, used in compounds with certain sentence-ending particles to create a familiar effect).[1][2]

Attested since at least 1809.[1]

Pronunciation edit

Particle edit

だい (dai

  1. [from 1908] (informal, men's speech) an interrogative particle
    どうしたんだい
    Dō shita n dai?
    What’s the matter?
  2. [from 1809] (dated) a particle used to state something with conviction
    そんなのはいらねえってんだい
    Sonna no wa iranē tte n dai.
    I don't need that stuff.

See also edit

Etymology 2 edit

For pronunciation and definitions of だい – see the following entries.
3
[noun] price
[noun] generation of a family
[noun] reign of a royal
[noun] decade
[noun] era
[counter] generation of a royal family
[counter] era, age, decade
[suffix] charge, fare, rate, fee, price, rent
[suffix] (indicating years spanning a specific period) -ies, -hundreds
2
[counter] machines, especially vehicles or computers
[suffix] tables, beds
[suffix] level, especially of price
[suffix] period of time in a person's life
3
[noun] title
[noun] theme
[noun] issue
[noun] problem
[counter] questions on a test
[suffix] question on a test
[suffix] (calligraphy) calligraphy by []
1
[prefix] big, large
[prefix] the large part of
[prefix] (religion) arch-
[suffix] Abbreviation of 大学 (daigaku, university).
Alternative spelling
die
3
[prefix] ordinal marker, often with affix
Alternative spelling
(This term, だい, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as だい, see Category:Japanese kanji read as だい.)

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006) 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN