どこ

See also: どご, とこ, and とご

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
何処 何所

⟨iduku⟩ → /id͡zuku/ → /id͡zuko/ → /idoko/ → /doko/

Shift from earlier いどこ (idoko) and いずこ (izuko), ultimately from Old Japanese-derived いずく (izuku) of the same meaning; by analogy of pronouns ここ (koko) and そこ (soko) having two morae in length, therefore the drop of the initial i-.

Compare the shift of いずち (izuchi) → どちら (dochira).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ど​こ [dóꜜkò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [do̞ko̞]

Pronoun

どこ • (doko) 

1. indefinite interrogative pronoun:
   1. points to unknown or unspecified locations: where..., which [noun]...

      新(しん)宿(じゅく)駅(えき)はどこですか。 ― Shinjuku-eki wa doko desu ka. ― Where is Shinjuku Station?

      アメリカの首(しゅ)都(と)はどこですか。 ― Amerika no shuto wa doko desu ka. ― Which city is the capital of the United States?

      どこが痛(いた)いですか。 ― doko ga itai desu ka. ― Which part of your body aches?

   2. points to objects belonging to an uncertain group: which [collective noun]...

      今(こん)夜(や)はどことどこが戦(たたか)いますか。 ― Kon'ya wa doko to doko ga tatakaimasu ka. ― Which team plays which tonight?

2. (added before a particle) indefinite demonstrative pronoun: anywhere, everywhere, somewhere

Usage notes

• This term is often spelled in hiragana.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• どこどこ (dokodoko)
• どこいら (dokoira)
• どこか (doko ka)
• どこぞ (doko zo)
• どこそこ (dokosoko)
• どことなく (doko to naku)
• どこともなし (doko tomo nashi)
• どこともなく (doko tomo naku)
• どこまでも (doko made mo)
• どこも (doko mo)
• どこもと (dokomoto)
• どこへ (doko e)
• どこ方(ほう)量(りょう)もない (doko hōryō mo nai)
• どこやら (dokoyara)
• どこら (dokora)

Idioms

• どこで暮(く)らすも一(いっ)生(しょう) (doko de kurasu mo isshō)
• どこの牛(うし)の骨(ほね) (doko no ushi no hone)
• どこの馬(うま)の骨(ほね) (doko no uma no hone)
• どこ吹(ふ)く風(かぜ) (doko fuku kaze)

Proverbs

• どこを押(お)せばそんな音(おと)が出(で)る (doko o oseba sonna oto ga deru)

See also

Japanese demonstratives

	ko- “this” (close to speaker)	so- “that” (close to listener)	a- “that over there” (far from both)	do- “which” (indeterminate, question)
Object	これ (kore)	それ (sore)	あれ (are)	どれ (dore)
	これら (korera)	それら (sorera)	あれら (arera)	—
Determiner	この (kono)	その (sono)	あの (ano)	どの (dono)
	これらの (korera no)	それらの (sorera no)	あれらの (arera no)	—
Kind	こんな (konna)	そんな (sonna)	あんな (anna)	どんな (donna)
	こういう (kō iu)	そういう (sō iu)	ああいう (ā iu)	どういう (dō iu)
Place	ここ (koko)	そこ (soko)	あそこ (asoko)*	どこ (doko)
	こっから (kokkara)	そっから (sokkara)	—	どっから (dokkara)
Direction / Human	こちら (kochira)	そちら (sochira)	あちら (achira)	どちら (dochira)
	こなた (konata)	そなた (sonata)	あなた (anata)	どなた (donata)
Direction	こっち (kotchi)	そっち (sotchi)	あっち (atchi)	どっち (dotchi)
Human	こいつ (koitsu)	そいつ (soitsu)	あいつ (aitsu)	どいつ (doitsu)
Manner	こう (kō)	そう (sō)	ああ (ā)**	どう (dō)
Degree	これくらい (kore kurai)	それくらい (sore kurai)	あれくらい (are kurai)	どれくらい (dore kurai)
	これだけ (kore dake)	それだけ (sore dake)	あれだけ (are dake)	どれだけ (dore dake)
	これほど (kore hodo)	それほど (sore hodo)	あれほど (are hodo)	どれほど (dore hodo)
* irregular ** regular (long vowel)

The kanji 此(こ) (ko), 其(そ) (so), 彼(あ) (a), and 何(ど) (do) can be used for determiners, but they are almost always spelled in hiragana.

Adverb

どこ • (doko) 

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling
所

First cited to a 洒落本 (sharebon) text in 1790.

The suffix senses are derived from the rendaku (連濁) form of とこ (-toko), a colloquial stem indicating a circumstance, moment, place, point, and many others.

Particle

どこ • (doko) 

1. (informal, with a usually negative sentence) Short for どころ (dokoro): indicates rejection to an out of the question word or phrase: the extent of, the place of, the time of

Derived terms

• どこか (doko ka)

Suffix

どこ • (-doko) 

1. (attached to nouns, stem forms of verbs, or stems of adjectives) expresses equivalence, worth, etc.: befitting..., deserving..., worthy of...
2. (after a personal pronoun) one's family, home, or household

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of どこ – see the following entries: 土戸, 土鼓, 奴袴

(The following entries are uncreated: 土戸, 土鼓, 奴袴.)