Chinese

edit
past; former past; former
simp. and trad.
(昔昔)

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

昔昔

  1. (literary) every night

Japanese

edit
Kanji in this term
むかし
Grade: 3
むかし
Grade: 3
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
昔々

Etymology

edit

Reduplication of (むかし) (mukashi, the past, old times).[1][2]

Pronunciation

edit
  • (Tokyo) かしむかし [mùkáshí múkáshí] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA(key): [mɯ̟ka̠ɕi mɯ̟ka̠ɕi]

Noun

edit

(むかし)(むかし) (mukashi mukashi

  1. ancient times, a very long time ago
    昔昔(むかしむかし)(とお)いところに…
    mukashi mukashi, tōi tokoro ni…
    a long time ago in a place far away…

Usage notes

edit

When used to start a fairy tale or other story, mukashi mukashi is often glossed as once upon a time.

Synonyms

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN