Baka (Japanese word)

{{short description|Pejorative term in the Japanese language}} {{Redirect|馬鹿|a Chinese meaning of the same characters|Red deer}} {{Other uses|Baka (disambiguation){{!}}Baka}} {{italics title}} {{nihongo|'''''Baka'''''|馬鹿／ばか／バカ||{{IPA|ja|baꜜ.ka}},<ref name=NHK>{{cite book|script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典|publisher=NHK Publishing|editor=NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute|date=24 May 2016|lang=ja}}</ref> {{xlat|idiot; stupid}}}} is a Japanese pejorative. It is cited as the most frequently used pejorative term in the Japanese language.<ref name="digital">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2001 |title =ばか 【馬鹿／莫迦】 |encyclopedia=デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen dictionary] |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo}}</ref>

==Word== [[file:馬鹿.svg|thumb|100px|''Baka'' written in kanji as {{lang|ja|馬鹿}}]] The modern Japanese writing system transcribes the insult ''baka'' as {{lang|ja|バカ}} in katakana, {{lang|ja|ばか}} in hiragana, or {{lang|ja|馬鹿}} ({{lit.}} "horse deer") in ''ateji'' phonetic kanji transcription; earlier ''ateji'' renderings included {{lang|ja|莫迦}}, {{lang|ja|母嫁}}, {{lang|ja|馬嫁}}, or {{lang|ja|破家}}.<ref name="kokugo">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2007 |title =ばか 【馬鹿・莫迦・破家】 |encyclopedia=日本国語大辞典 [Shogakukan Unabridged Dictionary of the Japanese Language] |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo}}</ref>

===History=== The first written usages of ''baka'' were during the Nanboku-chō period (1336–1392), when the "Northern and Southern Courts" battled.

In the earliest example, the ''Taiheiki'' historical epic records ''bakamono'' ({{lang|ja|馬鹿者}}) being used as an insult in 1342.<ref>{{cite book|last=Varley|first=Paul|title=Warriors of Japan: As Portrayed in the War Tales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TBkqqPMgUuwC|access-date=19 April 2013|year=1994|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-1601-8|page=210}}</ref> The Ashikaga commander Toki Yoritō ({{lang|ja|土岐頼遠}}) refused to pay obeisance to retired Emperor Kōgon ({{r.}}&nbsp;1313–1364), "Yoritō, probably inebriated, loudly demands to know what kind of fool (''bakamono'') has the temerity to order him to dismount." According to Carr, "Shinmura [Izuru] found that the original editions (fourteenth century) of the ''Taiheiki'' had ''baka'' written {{lang|ja|バカ}}; [while] later movable-type editions (c.&nbsp;1600) had the characters {{lang|ja|馬鹿}}."<ref name="Carr" /><ref>{{Cite book|author=Shinmura Izuru 新村出 |year=1971 |chapter=馬鹿考 [Baka ko] |title=新村出全集 [Shinmura Izuru zenshū] |pages=100–104 |publisher=Chikuma}}</ref>

A Bunmei-era (1469–1487) edition of the ''Setsuyōshū'' dictionary notes ''baka'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿}}, which was also written {{lang|ja|母嫁}} (lit. "mother bride"), {{lang|ja|馬嫁}} (lit. "horse bride"), or {{lang|ja|破家}} (lit. "break family"), means ''rōzeki'' {{lang|ja|狼藉}} "disorder; confusion".<ref name="shinmura" />

Many classical Japanese texts used ''baka''. For instance, the (c. 1616) ''Kōyō Gunkan'' military chronicle transcribed ''baka'' as {{lang|ja|馬嫁}}. Ihara Saikaku's (1682) ''Kōshoku Ichidai Otoko'' ({{lang|ja|好色一代男}}; "The Life of an Amorous Man"), which was a classic of the Ukiyozōshi genre, wrote ''baka'' with the modern kanji {{lang|ja|馬鹿}}.

===Etymologies=== Although the origins of ''baka'' are uncertain, Japanese scholars have proposed various etymologies and folk etymologies. The two most widely cited are a Classical Chinese idiom and a loanword from Sanskrit. First, the oldest hypothesis suggests that ''baka'' originated as a Chinese literary "allusion to a historical fool", the Qin dynasty traitor Zhao Gao ({{abbr|d.|died}} 207 BCE) from the ''Records of the Grand Historian''.<ref name="Carr" /> This etymology first appears in the (c.&nbsp;1548) ''Unbo Irohashū'' ({{lang|ja|運歩色葉集}}) dictionary, which glosses ''baka'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿}} as meaning "point at a deer and say horse" (指鹿曰馬),<ref name="shinmura" /> namely, the Chinese idiom ''zhǐlù-wéimǎ'' ({{lang|zh|指鹿為馬}}; lit. "point at a deer and call it a horse", Japanese {{lang|ja|鹿を指して馬となす}} ''Shika o Sashite Uma to Nasu'') meaning "deliberate misrepresentation for ulterior purposes". Zhao was an infamous minister who served the first emperor Qin Shi Huang (r.&nbsp;246–221 BCE) and forced the second Qin Er Shi (r.&nbsp;210–207 BCE) to commit suicide.

<blockquote>Zhao Gao was contemplating treason but was afraid the other officials would not heed his commands, so he decided to test them first. He brought a deer and presented it to the Second Emperor but called it a horse. The Second Emperor laughed and said, "Is the chancellor perhaps mistaken, calling a deer a horse?" Then the emperor questioned those around him. Some remained silent, while some, hoping to ingratiate themselves with Zhao Gao, said it was a horse, and others said it was a deer. Zhao Gao secretly arranged for all those who said it was a deer to be brought before the law. Thereafter the officials were all terrified of Zhao Gao.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Qian Sima|translator=Burton Watson|year=1993|title=Records of the Grand Historian|edition=3rd|publisher=Renditions|isbn=9780231081696|page=70}}</ref> </blockquote>

The Japanese idiom first appears in the 11th-century novel ''The Tale of Genji''.

<blockquote>Kokiden flew into a rage. "A man out of favor with His Majesty is expected to have trouble feeding himself. And here he is living in a fine stylish house and saying awful things about all of us. No doubt the grovelers around him are assuring him that a deer is a horse."<ref>{{Cite book|author=Murasaki Shikibu|translator=Edward G. Seidensticker|year=1976|title=The Tale of Genji|title-link=The Tale of Genji|publisher=Knopf|page=268}}</ref></blockquote>

Second, the most linguistically sound etymology is that ''baka'' derives from a Sanskrit word meaning "fool".<ref name="kokugo" /><ref name="Carr">{{Cite journal|last=Carr|first=Michael|year=1982|title=Baka and Fool|journal=The Review of Liberal Arts|volume=63|pages=1–18|hdl=10252/2038}}</ref> According to the Japanese linguist and lexicographer Shinmura Izuru,<ref name="shinmura">{{Cite book|author=Shinmura Izuru 新村出 |year=1971 |chapter=馬鹿考 [Baka ko] |title=新村出全集 [Shinmura Izuru zenshū] |pages=100–104 |publisher=Chikuma}}, p.</ref> the Edo-period scholar Amano Sadakage ({{lang|ja|天野信景}}; 1663–1733) originally suggested that Japanese Buddhist priests coined the word ''baka'' from Sanskrit.<ref name="shinmura" /> Modern reference works give two possible Sanskrit sources for the word, ''moha'' (transcribed 慕何) "foolish" and ''mahallaka'' (摩訶羅) "stupid".<ref name="kokugo" /><ref name="shinmura" /><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|year=2008 |title =ばか |encyclopedia=広辞苑 (Koujien) |publisher=Iwanami Shoten |location=Tokyo}}</ref> Sanskrit ''moha'' ({{lang|sa|मोह}}) means "bewilderment, loss of consciousness, delusion, folly" and comes from the root ''muh'' meaning "bewildered, perplexed, confused". Sanskrit ''mahallaka'' means "senile, feeble minded, stupid, decrepit" and comes from ''mūrkha'' ({{lang|sa|मूर्ख}}), meaning "dull, stupid, foolish, inexperienced; fool".<ref>{{cite book|last=Macdonell|first=Arthur Anthony |title=A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary: With Transliteration, Accentuation, and Etymological Analysis Throughout|year=1924|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-2000-5}}</ref>

Other proposed etymologies for ''baka'' are less reliable. Two Edo-period dictionaries proposed that ''baka'' derived from: ''ōmaka'' {{lang|ja|大まか}} "generous; unsparing" (''Rigen Shūran'' {{lang|ja|俚言集覧}}) or ''bokeru'' {{lang|ja|惚ける}} "grow senile; dote; become feeble-minded" (''Matsuya Hikki'' {{lang|ja|松屋筆記}}).<ref name="Carr" /><ref name="shinmura" />

===Related words=== thumb|Mumashika depiction from the 1832 ''Hyakki Yagyō Emaki''

The same 馬鹿 "horse deer" characters that transcribe ''baka'' are also used for names in Chinese zoological nomenclature and Japanese mythology.

In Chinese, ''mǎlù'' ({{lang|zh|馬鹿}}) refers to the red deer (''Cervus elaphus''), Japanese ''akashika'' {{lang|ja|赤鹿}}.

''Mumashika'' is a rare alternate Japanese reading of {{lang|ja|馬鹿}} that names a yōkai demon with a horse's head and deer's body. The c.&nbsp;1832 ''Hyakki Yagyō Emaki'' ({{lang|ja|百鬼夜行絵巻}}; "Hyakki Yagyō emakimono") depicts it with one eye, a horse's mouth and ears, and deer horn and hooves.

===Meanings=== Based on semantic analyses of ''baka'' entries in Japanese dictionaries and thesauruses, the lexicographer Michael Carr differentiates eight interrelated meanings.<ref name="Carr" />

Three basic "fool; foolish" meanings distinguish ''baka''¹ "ass; jerk; fool", ''baka''² "ament; idiot; imbecile; fool" (ament is a rare word for "congenitally mentally deficient"), and ''baka''³ "blockhead; dullard; dimwit; simpleton; dolt; fool". These are found in many frequently used Japanese expressions. Some more insulting lexemes are ''bakamono'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿者}} "stupid,fool,idiot", ''ōbaka'' {{lang|ja|大馬鹿}} "big fool damned idiot", and ''baka-yarō'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿野郎}} "stupid jerk, ass, asshole, dumbass". Some compounds are ''baka yoke'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿ヨケ}} "foolproof; idiot-proof", ''baka warai'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿笑い}} "foolish/horse laugh" and ''baka zura'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿面}} "foolish face; stupid look"; and some verb phrases are ''baka ni suru'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿にする}} "make a fool of (someone); treat with contempt", ''baka yobawarisuru'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿よばわりする}} "call (someone) a fool", and ''baka o miru'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿を見る}} "make a fool/ass of (oneself)".

Two extended meanings of ''baka''⁴ "worthless" and ''baka''⁵ "excess" expand upon "folly; foolishness". ''Baka''⁴ "worthless; foolish; valueless; trifling; insignificant" is used in expressions such as ''bakageta'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿げた}} "foolish; absurd; ridiculous"; ''bakana'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿な}} "foolish; silly; stupid"; and ''bakarashii'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿らしい}}, ''bakabakarashii'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿々々らしい}}, or ''bakakusai'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿臭い}}, all meaning "foolish; absurd; ridiculous". It is further used in phrases like ''baka ie'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿言え}} "Nonsense!; Go on!", and ''bakana mane o suru'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿な真似をする}} "do a foolish thing; act foolishly". ''Baka''⁵ "excess; foolish; absurd; extreme; extravagant" is found in a number of expressions: ''bakani'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿に}} or ''bakabakashiku'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿々々しく}} "awfully; terribly; extremely"; ''bakayasui'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿安い}} "ridiculously/dirt cheap"; ''bakane'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿値}} or ''bakadakai'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿高い}} "ridiculously expensive"; ''bakateinei'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿丁寧}} "excessive politeness"; and ''bakashōjiki'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿正直}} "honest to a fault".

Three special meanings are unrelated semantic connections. ''Baka''⁶ "trough shell" is a truncation of ''bakagai'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿貝}} "trough shell; ''Mactra chinensis''". ''Baka''⁷ "numbness (of limbs)" is used in the expression ''baka ni naru'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿になる}}, and ''baka''⁸ means "(an antique kind of) coin counter".

==Usages== In ''Japanese in MangaLand: Learning the Basics'', Marc Bernabe listed ''baka'' as "the most commonly used" and the "top swearword" in Japan.<ref name="manga">{{Cite book|last1=Bernabe|first1=Marc|first2=Ken |last2=Niimura |first3=Guillermo |last3=March|year=2004|title=Japanese in MangaLand: Learning the Basics|publisher=Japan Publications Trading|page=151}}</ref> Usages of this term can be discussed in terms of pragmatic depth, dialectal variation, and proper names.

===Pragmatics=== The linguistic pragmatics of using insults like ''baka'' can be language specific. For instance, Japanese has fewer words for calling someone a "fool" than English. Jack Seward recounts asking his language teacher "to prepare a list of the most stunning and forcible insults, pejoratives, and curses in Japanese", but was surprised that the "short, unimaginative, and seeming ineffectual" list had only two words: ''baka'' "fool" and ''chikushō'' {{lang|ja|畜生}} "beast".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Seward |first=Jack |title=The Japanese |location=New York |publisher=William Morrow|year=1972 |page=167}}</ref>

Carr proposes that intentional vagueness explains the comparatively small lexical field of Japanese insults. <blockquote>One likely reason for the relatively few Japanese words for 'fool' is vagueness. In both English and Japanese, the words for 'fool' have meanings that vary along scales of friendly–hostile, or joking–serious. In English, at one end of a scale are words like ''silly goose'' and at the other end are words like ''stupid asshole''. And in Japanese, at one end are words like ''kamaboko baka'' {{lang|ja|蒲鉾馬鹿}} 'silly chump' and at the other end are words like ''baka-yarō'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿野郎}} 'damn fool'. The difference is in the degree of lexical diversification along the scales of meaning. English seems to have more 'fool' words with more specificity&nbsp;– Japanese seems to have fewer 'fool' words with more vagueness. There are decided pragmatic and communicative advantages to such lexical vagueness. If you call me a ''stupid son-of-a-bitch'', I know exactly what you mean. But if you call me a ''baka-yarō'', I cannot be so sure of what you mean. The expression ''baka-yarō'' {{lang|ja|馬鹿野郎}} is one of the most insulting terms in the Japanese lexicon, but it is vague and can range in meaning from an affectionate 'silly-willy' to an abusive 'jerk-off fool'. ''Baka-yarō'' is so widely used that it has become semantically weak and vague. Such vagueness can serve to conceal hostility and thus to maintain social harmony.<ref name="Carr" /></blockquote>

===Dialectal=== According to Marc Bernabe, Japanese dialects show regional variations between using ''baka'' in Kantō dialect and ''aho'' {{lang|ja|阿呆}} or {{lang|ja|あほ}} "fool; idiot; jackass" in Kansai dialect. In addition, the insult ''aho'' has more of a slang connotation than ''baka''. Many Japanese dictionaries treat the words ''baka'' and ''aho'' as synonyms. "However, in Osaka and its surroundings, ''aho'' is a rather non-offensive word, whereas ''baka'' is an explosive word." Nevertheless, "In Tokyo and its surroundings, we find exactly the opposite, so you must be careful with the usage of these words."<ref name="manga" />

===Proper names=== ''Baka'' frequently occurs in proper nouns. Examples from Japanese pop music include albums (''Pretty Little Baka Guy'', ''Ai no Baka'' "Love Fool") and songs ("Suki Sugite Baka Mitai" "To Like [Him] Too Much and Look Like a Fool"). Some titles from modern Japanese literature are ''Tsuribaka Nisshi'' ("Fishing Fool's Diary"), ''Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs'' ("Dog Fool"), ''Karate Baka Ichidai'' ("A Karate-Crazy Life"), and ''Baka to Test to Shōkanjū'' ("Idiots, Tests, and Summoned Creatures").

===English=== During World War II, ''baka'' was American military slang for the Imperial Japanese Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka kamikaze flying bomb.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Evans |first=Toshie M. |year=1997|title=A Dictionary of Japanese Loanwords |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|pages=11–12}}</ref> The earliest recorded usage was in ''Newsweek'' on May 7, 1945, "American forces have officially designated this bomb as 'baka', baka being Japanese for foolish, silly, or stupid."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Russell |first=I. Willis |year=1947 |title=Among the New Words |journal=American Speech|volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=113–114 |doi=10.2307/487246|jstor=487246 }}</ref>

English-speaking weebs have been known to use ''baka'' in its Japanese context as a loanword.

== In popular culture == In the Tamil film ''Japanil Kalyanaraman'' (1985), the Japan-based tourist guide Munusamy (Chitra Lakshmanan) misleads Mayilsamy (Goundamani) by claiming that ''baka'' is Japanese for ''Greetings.'' The latter repeats the word to a Japanese woman who then slaps him.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9Lp_6MXDWw |title=Goundamani And Kovai Sarala Mega Hit Comedy Scenes Hd{{!}} Japanil Kalyanaraman{{!}} Kamal, Radha |date=2016-08-30 |last=Realcinemas |access-date=2026-02-28 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==See also== * Japanese profanity

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Wiktionary|バカ|馬鹿}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150810232151/http://www.jekai.org/entries/aa/00/np/aa00np04.htm ばか【馬鹿, 莫迦, 破家】], jeKai *[https://cotoacademy.com/what-baka-japanese-meaning/ What Does Baka Mean in Japanese – and Why You (Probably) Shouldn’t Use It, Coto Japanese Academy]

Category:Slurs related to low intelligence Category:Japanese words and phrases Category:Profanity