Monolingual definition walkthrough and symbol documentation

Kokugojiten (国語辞典) Walkthrough

>Need to set up monolingual dictionaries?
>This isn't the guide for that. Refer to Monolingual Guide

In this guide I will  walk you through the definitions of a few common words in Japanese and explain dictionary symbols.

Definition Walkthrough

kokugojiten1.png (Attachment)

Wow, there is a lot going on in a single entry, but you should only care about the contents in the pink box. (Actual definition!)
Dictionaries, especially the 大辞林 will include extra fluff before the actual definition itself, I advise you to skip over that and keep your focus on the actual definition.

Here I'll walk you through some monolingual definitions.

1. 食べる

Definition:

①食物を口に入れ，かんで飲み込む。現在では「食う」よりは上品な言い方とされる。「果物を―・べる」「朝食を―・べる」

Explanation:

① 食物(food)を口にいれ(insert in mouth), かんで飲み込む、(chew and swallow.). 現在では(in the present), 「食う」よりは上品な言い方とされる.(Considered a more elegant expression than "食う"(くう)).

※ In most monolingual dictionaries, the example sentences abbreviate the headword to ―.

「果物を―・べる」("To 食べる(eat) fruit") 「朝食を―・べる」("To 食べる(eat) breakfast")

2. 正面

Definition:

（１）物の前の面。建築物などの表の側。おもて。「正面から出入りする」「正面玄関」

Explanation:

(1) The front(前) side(面) of an object(物). The front side of a building (建築物△（など）の表の側). おもて. 　"Entering and exiting(出入)from the front△(正面)(of a building)" "Front entrance"

3. 叩く

Definition:

①手や手に持った固い物で，物や体に強い衝撃を与える。打つ。目的は，破壊，音を出す，攻撃，注意を喚起，確認，その他いろいろある。

Explanation:

With the hand(手で) or a hard object in the hand(手に持った固いもので), bestow(与え) a strong attack(強い攻撃) onto an object(物) or (another) body(体). Hit. The aim is(目的は), destruction(破壊), to make a noise(音を出す), assault(攻撃), draw attention(注意を喚起), affirmation(確認), and various others(そのほかいろいろある).

4. 犬

Below is an example of a definition useless reading in a monolingual dictionary, you are better off using Google Images instead.

Definition:

食肉目イヌ科の哺乳類。オオカミを家畜化した動物と考えられている。よく人になれ，番用・愛玩用・狩猟用・警察用・介助用・労役用などとして広く飼育される。品種が多く，大きさ・色・形などもさまざまである。

Explanation:

Carnivora Canidae Mammal. Thought to be the domestication of a wolf. Widely kept for guard, or cherishing, hunting, policing, aiding humans, labour etc. There are many breeds; varying sizes, color and shapes.

5. 音楽

Below is an example of a definition a little on the trickier side for most people.

Definition:

音による芸術。時間の進行の中で，一定の法則に基づいた音を組み合わせて，人の聴覚に訴える美を表現する。

Explanation:

An art of sound. It expresses 美 that appeals to the human hearing by combining sounds based on certain rules in the progression of time.   

6. 深掘り

①何かを深く掘ること。「―加工」

②何かを深く追求すること。「―分析」

③転じて，新たな分野・顧客などを開拓するのではなく，すでにあるものに対し密接な関係を築くこと。

Explanation

1. To dig something deeply 

2. To investigate something deeply

3. 転じて(in other words; thinking from a different standpoint; used when a word has an "evolved" meaning), to establish a close relationship with (something already with), rather than develop a new field or customer

Reference

Dictionaries often have incomprehensible symbols if you don't already know what they mean. Refer to the list below to know what they mean.

Symbols

[0] - Heiban Pitch Accent

[1] - Atamadaka Pitch Accent

[2] - Nakadaka OR Odaka Pitch Accent (2 mora will be ODAKA, 3 or more mora will be nakadaka)

[3] - Nakadaka OR Odaka Pitch Accent (3 mora will be ODAKA, 4 or more mora will be nakadaka)

[4] - Nakadaka OR Odaka Pitch Accent (4 mora will be ODAKA, 5 or more mora will be nakadaka)

[5] - Nakadaka OR Odaka Pitch Accent (5 mora will be ODAKA, 6 or more mora will be nakadaka)

[6] - Nakadaka OR Odaka Pitch Accent (6 mora will be ODAKA, 7 or more mora will be nakadaka)

[7] - Nakadaka OR Odaka Pitch Accent (7 mora will be ODAKA, 8 or more mora will be nakadaka)

[8] - Nakadaka OR Odaka Pitch Accent (8 mora will be ODAKA, 9 or more mroa will be nakadaka)

《》 - Specific kanji usage for the current definition.

⇔ - Antonym

→ - Refer to...

- - Indicates a breakpoint in 表現 composition. E.g. やじうま‐こんじょう【弥次馬根性】 Means it is made up of 弥次馬 and 根性. In the Daijisen this can mean it is kunyomi hit onto jouyou kanji usage.

・ - Indicates a breakpoint in 活用 (inflection, called "conjugation" in most grammar guides). E.g. き・る [1]【切る】. すた・れる [0][3]【廃れる】

∘ - The breakpoint is unknown.

Blank space - Tries to show that is believed to be the etymology. な べ [1]【鍋】〔「肴（な）」を煮る「瓮（へ）」の意〕

【】 - Standard kanji usage

・ - Shows multiple kanji usages. E.g. あし [2]【足・脚】

・(2) - Indicates list. でん ぴょう （—ぺう） [0]【伝票】 金銭や物品の出入りなどを記載する一定の形式を備えた用紙。会計記録の基礎となるもの。入庫伝票・出庫伝票・売上伝票・入金伝票・出金伝票など。

（） - Okurigana usage. (Daijirin). Continuation of △ (Shinmeikai)

〖〗- Source of a loan word. E.g. デート [1]〖date〗. However, Greek and Sanskrit loan words will be in latin script.

Kana after the main kana usage - 歴史的仮名遣い, or 歴史的仮名遣ひ (props to anyone who got it!). Historical kana usage. In the newer Daijirin, it is expressed in （）parenthesis with — denoting a section of the 仮名遣い identical. In other dictionaries, such as the Shinmeikai, it is expressed in katakana, others such as the Seisenban and Koujien will have it in hiragana, with the ‥ symbol showing idential 仮名遣い.

〔〕 - Denotes field of specialized vocabulary. Example: イリュージョン [2] 〖illusion〗 （２）〔美〕 二次元の画面に感じる，遠近感・立体感などの三次元的な錯覚。バロックの天井画はその代表例。

〔〕(2) - Indicates etymology

Specialized vocabulary indicators

〔哲〕　　　　　Philosophy  

〔論〕　　　　　(study of) logic  

〔倫〕　　　　　Ethics  

〔仏〕　　　　　Buddhism  

〔言〕　　　　　Linguistics  

〔心〕　　　　　Psychology  

〔法〕　　　　　Law  

〔経〕　　　　　Economics  

〔教〕　　　　　Education  

〔医〕　　　　　Medicine  

〔生理〕　　　　Physiology  

〔生物〕　　　　Biology  

〔数〕　　　　　Mathematics  

〔物〕　　　　　Physics  

〔化〕　　　　　Chemistry  

〔天〕　　　　　Astronomy  

〔地〕　　　　　Geography  

〔気〕　　　　　Meteorology  

〔電〕　　　　　Electrical Engineering  

〔機〕　　　　　Mechanical Engineering  

〔建〕　　　　　Architecture  

〔音〕　　　　　Western music  

〔美〕　　　　　Aesthetics/Fine Art  

「」 - Indicates example sentence.

― - The headword will be abbreviated to ― within the example sentence.

▼ - Non-jouyou kanji. Does not apply to proper nouns.

▽ - Jouyou kanji but non-standard reading. Does not apply to proper nouns.

× - Non-jouyou kanji

= - Kunyomi hit onto a kanji while being non jouyou.

◆ - Extra information (Meikyou).

▽⇔ - Antonym that applies to multiple semantic divisions. E.g. 出席⇔欠席. 開園⇔閉園. 長剣⇔短剣

△ - (Shinmeikai) Indicates the start of a branch. Often followed by parenthesis (). For example, this definition of 出戻り: 離縁になって実家に帰△ること（った女性）。

〈 - (Shinmeikai) Indicates non-Jouyou kanji usage.

／ - (Shinmeikai) Two or more grammatical usages.

Parts of Language

[文] - literary language

[季] - Kigo. Word associated with a specific season in haiku.

[可能] - potential verb (可能動詞). e.g. 読む→読める

[派生] - Derivative word. E.g. 子供っぽい is derived from 子供. 子供っぽさ is derived from 子供っぽい.

（名）- Noun

（代）- Pronoun

（動五）- Godan verb inflection

（動五[四]）- Modern godan/Classic yodan inflection

（動四）- Yodan verb inflection

（動上一）-　Inflection of ichidan iru verbs

（動上二）-　Inflection of nidan verbs 落つ→落ち

（動下一）-　Inflection of ichidan eru verbs

（動下二）-　Inflection of nidan verbs 捨つ→捨て

（動カ変）-　Irregular inflection of the verb 来る

（動サ変）-　Irregular inflection of suru verbs

（動ナ変）-　Irregular inflection of nu verbs.

（動ラ変）-　Irregular inflection of a limited number of ru verbs.

（動特活）-　special inflection

（形）-　　　i-adjective

（形ク）-　　classical form of i-adjective inflection (attributive form ends in "ki" and predicative in "shi")

（形シク）-　classical form of i-adjective inflection (attributive form ends in "shiki" and predicative in "shi")

（形動）-　　な、なる、たり、たる、なり adjective

（形動ナリ）- classical form of na-adjective inflection formed by contraction of the particle "ni" with the classical verb "ari" ("aru")

（形動タリ）- classical form of adjectival noun inflection formed by contraction of the particle "to" with the classical verb "ari" ("aru")

（ト|タル）-　と adverb たる pre-noun adjectival

（連体）-　pre-noun adjectival

（副助）-　adverb

（接続）-　conjunction

（感）-　interjection

（助動）-　inflecting dependent word

（格助）-　case-marking particle

（接助）-　conjunction particle

（副助）-　adverbial particle

（係助）-　binding particle

（終助）-　sentence-ending particle

（間投助）-　interjectory particle

（並立助）-　parallel marker

（準体助）-　particle that attaches to a phrase and acts on the whole phrase

（接頭）-　prefix

（接尾）-　suffix

（連語）-　compound word

（枕詞）-　decorative word used prefixally in classical Japanese literature

スル　-　nominal verb