あるいは

Japanese

Alternative spellings
或いは
或るいは
或は

Alternative forms

  • あるひは (aruhiha) (non-etymological historical spelling)

Etymology

ある (aru, to be, to exist, 連体形 (rentaikei) of the classical verb あり (ari)) + (i, nominalizing suffix) + (wa, topic marker).[1] Arose from 漢文訓読 (kanbun kundoku).

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) イワ [àrúꜜìwà] (Nakadaka – [2])[1]
  • IPA(key): [a̠ɾɯ̟ᵝiɰᵝa̠]

Conjunction

あるいは • (aruiwa) 

  1. or, either; some ... and others
    Synonyms: または (mata wa), もしくは (moshiku wa)
    フランス()あるいはドイツ()(べん)(きょう)したいと(おも)っている。
    Furansu-go aruiwa Doitsu-go o benkyō shitai to omotte iru.
    I'm thinking about learning French or German.

Usage notes

This term is often spelled in hiragana.

Adverb

あるいは • (aruiwa) 

  1. perhaps; maybe
    Synonyms: もしかすると (moshika suru to), ひょっとしたら (hyotto shitara)
    明日(あす)あるいは(あめ)()るかもしれない。
    Asu wa aruiwa ame ga furu ka mo shirenai.
    It will perhaps rain tomorrow.
  2. (repeated in the form Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)) sometimes; some
    あるいは()(きゅう)をし、あるいは(てい)(きゅう)をする。
    Aruiwa yakyū o shi, aruiwa teikyū o suru.
    Sometimes I play baseball; sometimes I play tennis.

Usage notes

This term is often spelled in hiragana.

Phrase

あるいは • (arui wa) 

  1. (usually repeated in the form Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), obsolete) some; some people; something; sometimes
    • c. late 9th–mid-10th century, Taketori Monogatari
      あるいは(ふえ)()き、あるいは(うた)をうたひ、…
      Arui wa fue o fuki, arui wa uta o utai, …
      Some [of the young noblemen] played the flute, some sang songs, …

References

  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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