As part of my Japanese conversation class I am researching a number of topics about Japan and Japanese that I find interesting.
The other day while talking to a Japanese friend of mine, he mentioned 倒語 (tougo), that is, japanese words created by switching around the syllables of existing words. He said that these words are often used as technical jargon or popular slang, especially by famous people.
This has defiantly sparked my curiosity, but other than a page at jekai.org (see here), I haven't been able to find much information about the subject.
とうご【倒語】
■ A 倒語 is a word formed by reversing the syllable order of a conventional word.
□ Most 倒語 are slang, informal expressions, or nonce words. 倒語 can be invented easily, and often they are used and understood only by people in certain groups. However, a few are widely known. In a few cases, such as ネタ or ダフ屋, most users of the words may not be aware of their etymologies.
Some well-established 倒語 are the following:
ネタ, from 種（たね）. For definitions, see the entry for ネタ.
ダフ屋 "scalper, ticket tout," from 札（ふだ）. See ダフ屋.
どや "flophouse," from 宿（やど） "inn." See どや.
グラサン "sunglasses," from サングラス. (Note that one syllable, ス, was dropped, and the remaining four syllables were reversed in pairs.)
しょば "place for setting up an outdoor stall or restaurant," as in しょば代（だい） "the fee levied for such a business," and しょば屋（や） "a person who collects such fees." From 場所（ばしょ） "place."
もく "tobacco, cigarette," from 雲（くも） "cloud," a reference to tobacco smoke.
Can anyone think of examples? How the practice come about? Have you made any of your own?
The other day while talking to a Japanese friend of mine, he mentioned 倒語 (tougo), that is, japanese words created by switching around the syllables of existing words. He said that these words are often used as technical jargon or popular slang, especially by famous people.
This has defiantly sparked my curiosity, but other than a page at jekai.org (see here), I haven't been able to find much information about the subject.
とうご【倒語】
■ A 倒語 is a word formed by reversing the syllable order of a conventional word.
□ Most 倒語 are slang, informal expressions, or nonce words. 倒語 can be invented easily, and often they are used and understood only by people in certain groups. However, a few are widely known. In a few cases, such as ネタ or ダフ屋, most users of the words may not be aware of their etymologies.
Some well-established 倒語 are the following:
ネタ, from 種（たね）. For definitions, see the entry for ネタ.
ダフ屋 "scalper, ticket tout," from 札（ふだ）. See ダフ屋.
どや "flophouse," from 宿（やど） "inn." See どや.
グラサン "sunglasses," from サングラス. (Note that one syllable, ス, was dropped, and the remaining four syllables were reversed in pairs.)
しょば "place for setting up an outdoor stall or restaurant," as in しょば代（だい） "the fee levied for such a business," and しょば屋（や） "a person who collects such fees." From 場所（ばしょ） "place."
もく "tobacco, cigarette," from 雲（くも） "cloud," a reference to tobacco smoke.
Can anyone think of examples? How the practice come about? Have you made any of your own?
