老い子

Japanese

Etymology
Kanji in this term
老 子
お
Grade: 4		 こ > ご
Grade: 1
kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
老子

Compound of 老い (oi, “old; an elder, an older person”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “the continuative or stem form”) of verb 老いる (oiru, “to age, to become old”)) +‎ 子 (ko, “child”).[1] The ko changes to go as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

First cited to the 狭衣物語 (Sagoromo Monogatari, “The Tale of Sagoromo”, literally “The Tale of the Clothes”), a text from the late 1000s.[1]

The term may be falling out of use, and it is not listed in some dictionaries.[2][3][4][5]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [o̞iɡo̞]

Noun

老(お)い子(ご) • (oigo) 

  1. [from late 1000s] (archaic) a child of older parents

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  3. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
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