Grammar

What does the word 言葉 (ことば • kotoba) mean?

History

  • 言 (koto) was previously the main term for word
  • The 葉 (ba) may have been added to differentiate from 事 (koto, thing).

Meaning

  • Often translated as a single word
  • However it can mean much more – a sentence, a paragraph, a book, language, dialect, phrase. It is similar to the English noun copy or text.
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