Everyone knows the Japanese for their great dedication to work. It really seems like the Japanese love to work, putting in 10 to 13 hours of work. While on the other side of the world, some Brazilians complain about 8 hours of work. Japanese have different thoughts and culture...
In addition to the culture, I stopped and started to analyze the meaning and origin of the word work in English and in Japanese, and I noticed that the difference is also remarkable. In this article we will examine this subject a little and notice that even words show their great difference.
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Job
The word "work" has its origin in the Latin word "TRIPALEUM": denomination of an instrument of torture formed by three (tri) sticks (paliu). Thus, originally, "to work" meant to be tortured in the tripaliu.
Who were the tortured? Slaves and the poor who could not pay taxes. Thus, those who “worked”, at that time, were the destitute people. From then on, this idea of working as being tortured began to give understanding not only to the fact of torture itself, but also, by extension, to the productive physical activities carried out by workers in general: peasants, artisans, farmers, bricklayers, etc.
The meaning of the word work contributes to an unpleasant view of this daily activity so important in the life of man. Even today, working is seen as a punishment imposed on citizens. Fortunately the Japanese don't see work that way.
work
The Japanese language has a little German, Chinese and sign language. Why did I say that? The Japanese language uses Chinese ideograms, and its words are formed by joining other words, as in German. And your reading and learning kanji is similar to sign language. In this way, understanding the meaning of the words can be a little more complex.
the meaning of the word shigoto It is quite simple, but it has several undefined meanings. One of the main meanings of shigoto is "Do something" and "Serve something".
despite the kanji 仕 - To mean serve (tsukaeru) its reading is done by saying "This word is untranslatable." which is derived from the verb "suru - 為る", which means to do.
AND "goto - 事" is a sound version of "koto" is a general word to refer to something, or something. So the best meaning for word shigoto would be "Do something".
The meanings of the kanji "koto - 事” are: Cause, fact, thing, issue, case, incident, event, circumstances, fact, accident, problem, reason.
It became clear that Japanese work doesn't have any bad meanings. We can see this in their culture and lifestyle. But don't worry, there are plenty of other work-related words, and we're going to go over them later.
Words derived from shigoto - 仕事: - Work - Job
As I mentioned, the Japanese language looks a lot like German, see a list of words related to work or some activity that derive from the kanji 仕 and 事.
Words derived using the 2 kanji 仕事:
| Kanji | START | Romaji | Meaning |
| 仕事着 | しごとぎ | shigotogi | Work clothes, business suit |
| 大仕事 | おおしごと | Ōshigoto | big job, big task |
| 手間仕事 | てましごと | shigoto theme | tedious work, troublesome work |
| 分の良い仕事 | ぶんのよいしごと | Bun no yoi shigoto | profitable work, good work, |
| 仕事師 | しごとし | shigotoshi | worker, entrepreneur |
| 仕事台 | しごとだい | shigotodai | bench, work table |
| 一仕事 | ひとしごと | hitoshigoto | task, a job |
| 畑仕事 | はたしごと | hatashigoto | work in the fields, work on a farm |
| 庭仕事 | にわしごと | niwashigoto | Gardening |
Related words using the kanji 仕:
| Kanji | START | Romaji | Meaning |
| 給仕する | きゅうじする | Kyūji suru | Serve |
| 奉仕活動 | ほうしかつどう | Hōshi katsudō | Voluntary service |
| 神に仕える | かみにつかえる | Kaminitsukaeru | serve God |
| 仕業 | しわざ | Shiwaza | act, action |
| 仕形 | しかた | shikata | method, means |
| 仕方ない | しかたない | shikatanai | There's no way |
| 仕始める | しはじめる | shihajimeru | start |
| 仕直す | しなおす | shinaosu | redo |
| 仕上げ | しあげ | shiage | Termination, completion |
| 仕込み | しこみ | shikomi | training, preparation |
| 仕返し | しかえし | shikaeshi | revenge, retaliation |
Some words using the kanji 事:
| Kanji | START | Romaji | Portugues |
| 事実 | じじつ | Jijitsu | fact, reality |
| 事実上 | じじつじょう | Jijitsujyou | Virtually |
| 事情 | じじょう | Jijyou | situation, circumstances |
| 大事 | だいじ | Taiji | important, valuable |
| 家事 | かじ | Kaji | I work at home |
| 食事 | しょくじ | Meal | Snack |
| 火事 | かじ | Kaji | Fire |
| 事故 | じこ | Jiko | Accident |
| 返事 | へんじ | Henji - Reply | Reply |
| 工事 | こうじ | Kouji | work, repairs |
| 記事 | きじ | Kiji | article, report |
| 用事 | ようじ | Youji | task, subject |
| 見事 | みごと | Migoto | magnificent, admirable |
The article is still halfway through, but we recommend also reading:
Other words for work
バイト = Baito - Abbreviation of アルバイト (arubaito) a German word "arbeite" what it means to work. Used as slang or to refer to part-time jobs.
働き= Hataraki - activity of a person or machine (is working)
作業＝Sagyou – service, work, an activity or task. (execution)
労働 = Roudou - formal term used for labor laws and conditions (contract)
勤務= Kin mu - used to designate service in terms of time, period, or location. (shift)
手数＝Tesuu – sense of service, expedient, honorary, nuisance (bank fee)
職＝ Shoku - to refer to employment, placement, position. (office)
There are many other words related to work, unfortunately we can't talk about them all. That's the end of it, I hope you enjoyed the article. xD
