Japanese

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Kanji in this term
わか
Grade: 6
kun'yomi

Etymology

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From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *waka.

Pronunciation

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  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「若い
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 若く かく
[wáꜜkàkù]
[wàkáꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形) 若い [wàkáꜜì]
Attributive (連体形) 若い [wàkáꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative 若くない かくない
くない
[wáꜜkàkùnàì]
[wàkáꜜkùnàì]
Informal past 若かった かかった
かった
[wáꜜkàkàttà]
[wàkáꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past 若くなかった かくなかった
くなかった
[wáꜜkàkùnàkàttà]
[wàkáꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal 若いです いです [wàkáꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive 若くて かくて
くて
[wáꜜkàkùtè]
[wàkáꜜkùtè]
Conditional 若ければ かければ
ければ
[wáꜜkàkèrèbà]
[wàkáꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

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(わか) (wakai-i (adverbial (わか) (wakaku))

  1. young, juvenile
    • 1993 April 16, “(ふう)()ゲンカはネコが()う? [Would a Cat Eat a Marital Dispute?]”, in みかん()(にっ)() [Mikan Picture Diary], episode 23, spoken by as Tom Kusanagi, Sumi Shimamoto as Kikuko Kusanagi, Tarako as Mikan Kusanagi, and Kenichi Ono as Tōjirō Kusanagi (Akiko Hiramatsu), CBC, via TBS:
      あっ…お(かあ)さん!()()て!これ お(かあ)さんでしょう?きれいだな!
      A'… Okā-san! Mite Mite! Kore okā-san deshō? Kirei da na!
      Oh… Oh right, Mom! Look! This is you, right? You were so beautiful!
      それはお(ばあ)ちゃんの(わか)(とき)
      Sore wa obā-chan no wakai toki!
      That’s your grandma when she was young!
      ナイスリカバリー!
      Naisu rikabarī!
      Nice comeback!
  2. energetic, fresh
  3. immature
    (かんが)(わか)
    kangae ga wakai
    one's thought is immature
  4. lesser in an order, smaller, earlier
    (わか)(ばん)(ごう)
    wakai bangō
    smaller number
    (わか)イニング
    wakai iningu
    earlier inning

Usage notes

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In the sense of "young", this word is only used for young adults, not children.

Inflection

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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN