お休みなさい

Japanese

Kanji in this term
休
やす Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
御休みなさい

Etymology

Compound of 御 (o, honorific prefix) +‎ 休み (yasumi, “resting”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 休む yasumu, “to rest”) +‎ なさい (nasai, polite imperative, from verb 為さる nasaru, an honorific replacement for する suru, “to do”).^[1]

First cited to a text from the early 1800s.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おやすみなさい [òyásúmí násáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [6])^[1]
• (Tokyo) おやすみなさい [òyásúmí násáí] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [o̞ja̠sɨmʲi na̠sa̠i]

Interjection

お休(やす)みなさい • (oyasumi nasai) 

1. good night
   • 1926, Yumeji Takehisa, Yoru [Night]‎:

     幹(みき)子(こ)は、寝(ね)床(どこ)の中(なか)からお月(つき)様(さま)の方(ほう)を見(み)あげて「お月(つき)様(さま)おやすみなさい」
     そう言(い)って枕(まくら)に頭(あたま)をつけて、お月(つき)様(さま)を見(み)ながら、お母(かあ)様(さま)の子(こ)守(もり)唄(うた)をききました。

     Mikiko wa, nedoko no naka kara o-tsuki-sama no hō o miagete “o-tsuki-sama oyasumi nasai”
     Sō itte makura ni atama o tsukete, o-tsuki-sama o minagara, o-kā-sama no komoriuta o kikimashita.

     Mikiko looked at the moon from her bed. "Goodnight, moon," Mikiko said, and rested her head on her pillow, listening to her mother's lullaby while gazing at the moon.

See also

• お休(やす)み (oyasumi): abbreviation of お休みなさい

References

1. “おやすみ‐なさい 【御休─】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here