彼奴

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
あ Grade: S	やつ > いつ Grade: S
kun’yomi	Irregular

/ajat͡su/ → /ait͡su/

Shift from older ayatsu reading below. Appears from at least the 1500s.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あいつ [àítsú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [a̠it͡sɨᵝ]

Pronoun

彼(あ)奴(いつ) • (aitsu) 

1. (informal) that guy, girl, or thing over there

   あいつ本(ほん)当(とう)嫌(きら)い。

   Aitsu hontō kirai.

   I really hate that guy/girl.

   • 1988 July 30 [Jul 25 1984], Fujiko F. Fujio, “ふたりぼっち [Altwo]”, in ポストの中の明日 [Post-Mid-Tomorrow] (藤子不二雄少年SF短編集; 2), volume 2 (fiction), 10th edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 177:

     「足(あし)腰(こし)をきたえてあ(﹅)い(﹅)つ(﹅)をぶん投(な)げてみたかったんだ」

     “Ashikoshi o kitaete AITSU o bunnagete mitakatta n da”

     “I trained my legs so that I could beat HIM in wrestling”

   • 2002 March 9, Hotta, Yumi; Obata, Takeshi, “第(だい)131(ひゃくさんじゅういち)局(きょく)　試(ため)される伊(い)角(すみ) [Game 131: Isumi’s Endeavor]”, in ヒカルの碁 [Hikaru’s Go], volume 16 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 68:

     楽(レェ)平(ピン)⁉アイツに負(ま)けた⁉

     Rē Pin⁉ Aitsu ni maketa⁉

     Le Ping!? You lost to that brat!?

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory, or used to poke fun at someone as between close friends.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
あ Grade: S	やつ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Compound of 彼 (a, “that, over there”, distal pronoun, indicating something far from both speaker and listener) +‎ 奴 (yatsu, “guy, girl, thing”). Appears from the mid-1200s.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あやつ [àyátsú] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) あ​やつ [áꜜyàtsù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) あや​つ [àyáꜜtsù] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [a̠ja̠t͡sɨᵝ]

Pronoun

彼(あ)奴(やつ) • (ayatsu) 

1. (informal, dated) that guy, girl, or thing over there

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory.

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
きゃつ
Grade: S	Grade: S
Irregular

/kajat͡su/ → /kjat͡su/

Shift from older kayatsu below. Appears from the early 1200s.

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) きゃ​つ [kyáꜜtsù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [kʲa̠t͡sɨᵝ]

Pronoun

彼奴(きゃつ) • (kyatsu) 

1. (informal, men's speech) that guy, girl, or thing over there
   • 2014, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire:

     きゃつらめ……　数(すう)千(せん)年(ねん)前(まえ)の　異(い)常(じょう)気(き)象(しょう)を　調(しら)べて　どうするつもりだ……

     Kyatsurame…… sū-sen-nen-mae no ijō kishō o shirabete dō suru tsumori da……

     What on earth are they up to, investigating extreme weather that happened thousands of years ago?

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory, or used to poke fun at someone as between close friends.

Derived terms

• 彼奴(きゃつ)輩(ばら) (kyatsubara)

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
か Grade: S	やつ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Compound of 彼 (ka, “that, over there”, distal pronoun, indicating something far from both speaker and listener; precursor to modern a) +‎ 奴 (yatsu, “guy, girl, thing”). Appears from the late 900s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ka̠ja̠t͡sɨᵝ]

Pronoun

彼(か)奴(やつ) • (kayatsu) 

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) that guy, girl, or thing over there

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory.

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
彼	奴
か Grade: S	やつ > いつ Grade: S
kun’yomi	Irregular

/kajat͡su/ → /kait͡su/

Shift from older kayatsu above. Appears during the Muromachi period (1336–1573), then falls out of use.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ka̠it͡sɨᵝ]

Pronoun

彼(か)奴(いつ) • (kaitsu) 

1. (obsolete) that guy, girl, or thing over there

Usage notes

Slightly derogatory.

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)
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	こちら (kochira)	そちら (sochira)	あちら (achira)	どちら (dochira)
	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)
	こちら様 (kochirasama)	そちら様 (sochirasama)	あちら様 (achirasama)	どちら様 (dochirasama)
Manner	こう (kō)	そう (sō)	ああ (ā)**	どう (dō)
Degree	こんくらい (konkurai)	そんくらい (sonkurai)	あんくらい (ankurai)	どんくらい (donkurai)
	こんだけ (kondake)	そんだけ (sondake)	あんだけ (andake)	どんだけ (dondake)
* 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.