Kotoba
/ko̞.to̞.ba/noun
A Japanese word meaning language, speech, or words.
Did you know?Kotoba is closely associated with kotodama, the traditional belief that spoken words possess spiritual power capable of affecting events and reality.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Japonic
Proto-Japonic
*kə̀tə
“A reconstructed ancestral form associated with speech, words, or utterance; the reconstruction is debated.”
Old Japanese, 8th Century
Old Japanese
koto
“A word, speech, statement, or utterance; also a matter or affair in related usage.”
Old Japanese, 8th Century
Old Japanese
koto pa
“An early form associated with words or speech; the second element is traditionally connected with pa, “leaf,” though this analysis is not certain.”
Late Old Japanese–Early Middle Japanese
Japanese
kotoba
“Words, speech, or language; the form became established as the ordinary term for verbal expression.”
Modern Japanese
Japanese
言葉 (ことば, kotoba)
“Words, language, speech, or a particular expression.”
Modern English
English loanword
kotoba
“A Japanese cultural or linguistic term used in English discussions of language, Japanese aesthetics, and kotodama.”
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