相槌
Japanese
editKanji in this term | |
---|---|
相 | 槌 |
あい Grade: 3 |
つち > づち Jinmeiyō |
kun'yomi |
Etymology
editFrom あい (ai-, “mutual, together”) + 槌 (tsuchi, “hammer”). The tsuchi changes to zuchi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
Noun
edit相槌 • (aizuchi) ←あひづち (afiduti)?
- (archaic, smithing) (two persons) hammering an object at the same time [from 13th century]
- [c. 1288, Chiribukuro, volume 8:
- 鍛冶があひつちと云ふは、二人むかひてうつゆへ歟
- Kaji ga aizuchi to iu wa, futari mukai de utsu yue yo
- When a blacksmith says aizuchi they mean two people working face-to-face]
- (construction) a large hammer used to drive a ridgepole, beam, or other large member [from 16th century]
- customary signals made during a conversation to indicate comprehension or attentiveness; backchannelling [from 17th century]
Usage notes
editIn Japanese culture it is considered polite and necessary to indicate while listening that you are in fact listening. In this sense 相槌 is usually done through terse comments, affirmative grunts and other noises, and gesticulations such as a slight nodding of the head. While it is common to do this in the U.S., it is not as clearly defined a custom. Thus, it is not generally considered impolite when a person doesn't make such signals.
Derived terms
editDescendants
edit- → English: aizuchi
References
edit- 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.
- “あい‐づち”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) [1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
Categories:
- Japanese terms spelled with 相 read as あい
- Japanese terms spelled with 槌 read as つち
- Japanese terms with rendaku
- Japanese terms read with kun'yomi
- Japanese compound terms
- Japanese terms prefixed with あい
- Japanese lemmas
- Japanese nouns
- Japanese terms spelled with third grade kanji
- Japanese terms spelled with jinmeiyō kanji
- Japanese terms written with two Han script characters
- Japanese terms with archaic senses
- Japanese terms with quotations
- ja:Construction