Kami is a quite popular Japanese word, but depending on the written form, it can mean 3 things. In this article, we will study in depth the meaning of the word Kami in Japanese, which can mainly mean God, Paper, or Hair.
The Japanese language contains few phonemes, which ends up creating many words with the same pronunciation but with different writings and meanings. This phenomenon in the language is called a homograph.
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Kami [神] – God in Japanese
When we talk about the word Kami in Japanese, one of the main meanings is God, written with the ideogram [神], which can refer to any deity, divinity, or spirit.
The ideogram [神] can also be used even in the title of the Emperor of Japan. It has also been used as lightning and is often used in words involving something fantastic or incredible. The ideogram can also convey the concept of soul and mind.
In Shintoism, the word kami [神] can be used to refer to either a god or a multitude of gods present in nature, such as stones, trees, mountains, and other elements where the gods that the Japanese believe in reside.
To refer to a powerful God formally, we use Kami-sama [神様]. The ideogram also has other readings such as mi and shin, which are commonly used in the composition of other words.
Some words with Ideogram [神]:
- Megami [女神] – Means Goddess;
- Shinto [神道] – Means Shintoism;
- Shingaku [神学] – Means Theology;
- Shinigami [死神] – Means God of Death;
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Kami [紙] – Paper in Japanese
Kami can also mean paper in Japanese when written with the ideogram [紙]. Its other common reading is “shi” and is present in other objects such as newspaper and paper money.
Kami can also create other interesting words such as letter, which in Japanese is “tegami” [手紙], literally the combination of hand and paper, since the letter is written by hand on a paper.
Kami [髪] – Hair in Japanese
Another meaning of the pronunciation Kami is hair written with the ideogram [髪]. This word is generally used to refer specifically to the hair on the head, which can also be “kaminoke” [髪の毛].
Another common way to say hair in Japanese is tohatsu [頭髪]. When we want to talk about a person’s hairstyle or hair style, we use the word kamigata [髪型].
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Other Meanings of Kami
There are other Japanese words that are also read as kami, but with different meanings. There are also words that, although not homographs, share the same ideogram or similar initial readings.
For example, kaminari [雷], despite having a different ideogram and strict meaning, used to refer to thunder as kami [神]. So there is a certain history and similarity hidden behind the origin of the language.
Besides God, hair, and paper, see below other meanings of the word:
Kami [上] – Sovereign in Japanese
The ideogram “ue” [上] used to refer to the direction of “up” can also be read as kami, where it means something involving superiority or sovereignty. Whether positions or social levels, words can contain such ideogram and its pronunciation.
Kami [加味] – Seasonings and Flavorings
The pronunciation Kami composed of two ideograms [加味] is used to refer to seasoning or flavorings. The verb in the form suru can be created to refer to addition, inclusion, and consideration. If written as [佳味], it means something tasty and delicious.
Conclusion
It is interesting to see how many homographs exist in the Japanese language. Kami was the first homograph I learned, as they are 3 common words that language students end up learning.
Did you know the homograph kami in the Japanese language? If you liked this article, share it and leave your comments, and don’t forget to read other articles on our site.
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