くち

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
口

From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *kutui.^[1] Appears in the Kojiki of 712 CE^[2] and the Man'yōshū completed some time after 759 CE.^[3] Possibly cognate with Goguryeo *古次 (*kuci, “mouth”).^[1]^[4]^[5]

Standalone form of 口(くつ) (kutsu, bound form). Compare 神 (kami, kamu-, “spirit, god”), 木 (ki, ko-, “tree”), and 目 (me, ma-, “eye”).

There are interesting potential phonetic and semantic overlaps with Middle Chinese 窟 (MC khwot, “hole; cave”), 口 (MC khuwX, “mouth; opening; hole”); Korean 굳 (gut), 굿 (gut, “hole; hollow; cavity”); possibly even Ainu クㇳ (kut), クッチ (kutchi, “throat”). One possibility is that these represent prehistoric nativized borrowings from Chinese. However, there is yet no clear evidence of relatedness.

Alternative forms

(non-productive, bound form)
- (prefixal) くつ (kutsu)

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) くち [kùchí] (Heiban – [0])^[6]^[7]^[8]
IPA^(key): [kɯ̟̊t͡ɕi]

Noun

くち • (kuchi)

口: mouth
- 1999 July 22, “グレード・ビル [Great Bill]”, in Vol.4, Konami:
  
  どんなものでも丸(まる)飲(の)みできる大(おお)きな口(くち)を持(も)っている。
  Donna mono de mo marunomi dekiru ōkina kuchi o motteiru.
  Its massive mouth can swallow whole anything whole.
口: opening
瓶(びん)の口(くち)は細(ほそ)くて、飲(の)みにくい。
Bin no kuchi wa hosokute, nomi nikui.
The bottle's opening is narrow and hard to drink from.
口: voice, author
書(か)く口(くち)が違(ちが)う。
Kakukuchi ga chigau.
You can tell it's a different writer by the style.
口: drinker, consumer
行(い)ける口(くち)
ikeru kuchi
able to down a drink

彼(かれ)は酒(さけ)を飲(の)める口(くち)だ。
Kare wa sake o nomerukuchi da.
He can really down drinks — he's quite a drinker.

飲(の)める口(くち)
nomeru kuchi
a good drinker (someone who can hold their liquor)
口: taste (in food), preference
日(に)本(ほん)人(じん)の口(くち)に合(あ)わせた料(りょう)理(り)
Nihonjin no kuchi ni awaseta ryōri
Food adapted to Japanese tastes

Derived terms

口荒(くちあら) (kuchiara, “speaks roughly; coarse mouth”)
口占(くちうら) (kuchiura, “oral divination”)
口裏(くちうら) (kuchiura, “harmony of words; to corroborate stories secretly”)
口絵(くちえ) (kuchie, “frontispiece”)
口可笑(くちおかし) (kuchiokashi, “witty talk; joking”)
口重(くちおも) (kuchiomo, “slow of speech; prudent”)
口金(くちがね) (kuchigane, “ferrule; closing clasp”)
口軽(くちがる) (kuchigaru, “glib; light‑spoken”)
口綺麗(くちぎれい) (kuchigirei, “smooth talker; polished speech”)
口癖(くちぐせ) (kuchiguse, “speech quirk; pet phrase”)
口口(くちくち) (kuchikuchi, “murmuring; repeated words”)
口車(くちぐるま) (kuchiguruma, “smooth talk; flattery”)
口巧者(くちごうしゃ) (kuchigōsha, “silver‑tongued; persuasive speaker”)
口言葉(くちことば) (kuchikotoba, “colloquial speech; spoken phrase”)
口先(くちさき) (kuchisaki, “glib words; on the lips only”)
口三味線(くちざみせん) (kuchizamisen, “mouth shamisen; lip‑synching”)
口銭(くちせん) (kuchisen, “tip (money passed by word of mouth)”)
口達者(くちだっしゃ) (kuchidassha, “eloquent person”)
口茶(くちぢゃ) (kuchija, “chat; chit‑chat”)
口八丁(くちはっちょう) (kuchihatchō, “glib talk; cunning tongue”)
口速(くちばや) (kuchibaya, “fast of speech”)
口火(くちび) (kuchibi, “starting point; verbal cue”)
口拍子(くちびょうし) (kuchibyōshi, “rhythm of speech”)
口笛(くちぶえ) (kuchibue, “mouth whistle”)
口不調法(くちぶちょうほう) (kuchibuchōhō, “clumsy speech”)
口下手(くちべた) (kuchibeta, “poor at speaking; ineloquent”)
口紅(くちべに) (kuchibeni, “lipstick”)
口返答(くちへんとう) (kuchihentō, “oral reply”)
口前(くちまえ) (kuchimae, “front of house; speaking front”)
口真似(くちまね) (kuchimane, “mimicry; parroting speech”)
口忠実(くちまめ) (kuchimame, “faithful speech; keeping promises”)
口元(くちもと) (kuchimoto, “around the mouth”)
口輪(くちわ) (kuchiwa, “mouth ring; muzzle”)
口脇(くちわき) (kuchiwaki, “side of the mouth”)
口話法(くちわほう) (kuchiwahō, “oral narrative style”)
糸口(いとぐち) (itoguchi, “clue; starting point”)
入口(いりぐち) (iriguchi, “entrance”)
奥口(おくぐち) (okuguchi, “rear entrance”)
表口(おもてぐち) (omoteguchi, “main entrance”)
傷口(きずぐち) (kizuguchi, “wound opening”)
蛇口(じゃぐち) (jaguchi, “tap; faucet”)
出口(でぐち) (deguchi, “exit”)

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling
鷹

From Old Japanese, from Baekje 倶知 (*kuti, “hawk”), as mentioned in the Nihon Shoki of 720.^[9]^[10]

The last cited usage was the Sanbokukikashū of circa 1128.^[11]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kɯ̟t͡ɕi]

Noun

くち • (kuchi)

鷹: (obsolete) hawk
Synonym: 鷹 (taka)

Etymology 3

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of 朽ちる (kuchiru, “to rot”).^[12]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kɯ̟t͡ɕi]

Noun

くち • (kuchi)

朽, 腐: something rotten
朽, 腐: a disease that makes ears of grain rot

Affix

くち • (kuchi)

朽, 腐: rotting
朽, 腐: aging

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of くち – see the following entry.

【駆馳】	[noun] [from 1475] driving with a car, horse, etc. [noun] [from c. 1346] working with affairs [verb] [from 1475] to drive with a car, horse, etc. [verb] [from c. 1346] to work with affairs

(This term, くち (kuchi), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
For a list of all kanji read as くち, see Category:Japanese kanji read as くち.)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Vovin, Alexander (2017) “Origins of the Japanese Language”, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, →DOI
^ “口”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^
c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3532:
, text here
^ Itabashi, Yoshizo (2003) “高句麗の地名から高句麗語と朝鮮語・日本語との史的関係をさぐる [A Study of the Historical Relationship of the Koguryo Language, the Old Japanese Language, and the Middle Korean Language on the Basis of Fragmentary Glosses Preserved as Place Names in the Samguk Sagi]”, in 日本語系統論の現 [Perspectives on the Origins of the Japanese Language] (in Japanese), →DOI, pages 131-185
^ Beckwith, Christopher (2007) Koguryo: The Language of Japan’s Continental Relatives (Brill's Japanese Studies Library)‎^[2], →ISBN, page 128, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Vovin, Alexander (2013) “From Koguryo to T'amna”, in Korean Linguistics‎^[3], volume 15, number 2 (PDF), John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, pages 222-240
^ John Bentley (2000) “New Look at Paekche and Korean: Data from Nihon shoki”, in Language Research‎^[4], volume 36, number 2, Seoul National University, pages 417—443
^ “くち【鷹】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[5] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ “朽・腐”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[6] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

Okinawan

Noun

くち (kuchi)

[OOJL-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Vovin, Alexander (2017) “Origins of the Japanese Language”, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, →DOI

[KDJ2-2] “口”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[MYS-3] 
c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3532:
, text here

[I03-4] Itabashi, Yoshizo (2003) “高句麗の地名から高句麗語と朝鮮語・日本語との史的関係をさぐる [A Study of the Historical Relationship of the Koguryo Language, the Old Japanese Language, and the Middle Korean Language on the Basis of Fragmentary Glosses Preserved as Place Names in the Samguk Sagi]”, in 日本語系統論の現 [Perspectives on the Origins of the Japanese Language] (in Japanese), →DOI, pages 131-185

[KogJap-5] Beckwith, Christopher (2007) Koguryo: The Language of Japan’s Continental Relatives (Brill's Japanese Studies Library)‎^[2], →ISBN, page 128, →ISBN

[DJR-6] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-7] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK7-8] Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[FKTT-9] Vovin, Alexander (2013) “From Koguryo to T'amna”, in Korean Linguistics‎^[3], volume 15, number 2 (PDF), John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, pages 222-240

[PKCNS-10] John Bentley (2000) “New Look at Paekche and Korean: Data from Nihon shoki”, in Language Research‎^[4], volume 36, number 2, Seoul National University, pages 417—443

[KDJ2O-11] “くち【鷹】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[5] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

[KDJ2-rotten-12] “朽・腐”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[6] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

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