ようこそ

Japanese

Etymology

/joku koso/ → /jou koso/ → /joːkoso/. From the adverb 良く (yoku, “well”) and the emphatic particle こそ (koso). The medial -k- was elided and the resulting -ou- monophthongized into a long vowel (ウ音便 (u-onbin, “u-euphony”)).

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) よ​ーこそ [yóꜜòkòsò] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
  • IPA(key): [jo̞ːko̞so̞]

Adverb

ようこそ • (yōkoso) 

  1. welcome (greeting given upon someone's arrival)
    日(に)本(ほん)へようこそ!
    Nihon e yōkoso!
    Welcome to Japan!
    地(ち)球(きゅう)へようこそ!
    Chikyū e yōkoso!
    Welcome to Earth!
    私(わたし)たちの家(うち)へようこそ。
    Watashitachi no uchi e yōkoso.
    Welcome to our home.

Usage notes

Usually follows へ (he, locative particle of a direction to an area, to), similar to "welcome to (an area)", or on its own.

References

  1. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
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