Read in Japanese – The History of the Word “Samurai” (Part 2)

Ready to continue reading the story of how the word "samurai" came to be through another "guided reading"?

"Guided reading" is a format I have designed to help you read and get used to Japanese syntax.

For each sentence that makes up the original text, I will first provide you with an English translation and a vocabulary list. 

Read the content of each sentence in English and then take a look at the vocabulary list.

As you do this, your brain will calm down and the reading itself will turn into a kind of discovery of how those same ideas are expressed in Japanese.

Once you've done that, dive into the original Japanese text.

To help you further, I will provide its transcription in rōmaji and a word-for-word translation.

A Brief Summary of Part 1

In the first part of this guided reading, we saw how the word "samurai" came about.

"Samurai" is a relatively recent pronunciation that arose in the 16th century.

Before that, it was pronounced "saburahi" (Heian period), and then "saburai" (Kamakura to Muromachi periods).

In its earliest form, the word "samorahu" (Nara period) conveyed the meaning of "standing next to a nobleman, observing him and waiting for him to give orders.".

So, let’s keep reading:

Servants or Skilled Officials?

So, from the conjunctive form of "saburahu", the noun "saburahi" was created in the Heian period, and while this originally meant "to take care of one’s lord by being at his/her side, or the person [doing that]”, it later came to refer to a class of skilled officials (ginō kannin) of low to middle rank who served the imperial court while at the same time served upper class aristocrats, before finally coming to indicate warrior (bushi) which were part of such skilled officials.

さて、その「サブラフ」の連用形から平安時代に「サブラヒ」という名詞が生まれたわけであるが、その原義は「主君の側近くで面倒を見ること、またその人」で、後に朝廷に仕える官人でありながら同時に上級貴族に伺候した中下級の技能官人層を指すようになり、そこからそうした技能官人の一角を構成した「武士」を指すようになった。

sate, sono ‘saburahu’ no ren'yōkei kara Heian jidai ni ‘saburahi' to iu meishi ga umareta wake dearu ga, sono gengi wa ‘shukun no soba chikaku de mendō o miru koto, mata sono hito' de, ato ni chōtei ni tsukaeru kan'nin dearinagara dōji ni jōkyū kizoku ni shikō shita chū-ka-kyū no ginō kan'nin-sō o sasu yō ni nari, soko kara sō shita ginō kan'nin no ikkaku o kōsei shita ‘bushi' o sasu yō ni natta.

so | that | ‘saburahu’ | of | conjunctive form | from | Heian period | in | ‘saburahi’ | (quot.) | noun | (subj.) | was born | the-fact/thing-is | but | that | original meaning | as-for | ‘lord | at the side of | to take care | and moreover | that | person’ | was, and | later | court | at | serving | officials | while being | at the same time | upper class aristocrats | to | served | low- to middle ranking | skilled officials | (obj.) | to refer | came to-and | from there | such | skilled officials | of | one corner (part) | (obj.) | constituted | ‘bushi’ | (obj.) | indicate | came to

In other words, at the beginning, not only warriors (bushi) but also other low- to middle-ranking skilled officials such as the “myohoka” (legal experts) were regarded as “samurai”, so there was no element in the word indicating soldiers.

つまり、最初は武士のみならず、明法家などの他の中下級技能官人も「侍」とされたのであり、そこに武人を意味する要素はなかったのである。

tsumari, saisho wa bushi nomi narazu, myōbōka nado no hoka no chū-ka-kyū ginō kan'nin mo ‘samurai' to sareta no deari, soko ni bujin o imi suru yōso wa nakatta no dearu.

in other words | at the beginning | bushi | not only… but also... | legal experts | etc. | of | other | | low- to middle ranking | skilled officials | also | ‘samurai’ | were regarded | the-fact/thing-is-and | there | soldiers | (obj.) | to mean | elements | didn’t exist | the-fact/thing-is 

Status Didn’t Matter Anymore

As mentioned before, "saburahi" changed to "saburai" and then "samurai," but it was not until near the Edo period that people began to use this type of term to refer to warriors (bushi) in general, regardless of their status. Until then, it was limited to higher-ranking warriors (bushi) who were the vassals of aristocrats or shoguns.

前述したように、「サブラヒ」はその後「サブライ」→「サムライ」と語形変化を遂げていったが、地位に関係なく武士全般をこの種の語で呼ぶようになったのは、江戸時代近くからであり、それまでは貴族や将軍などの家臣である上級武士に限定されていた。

zenjutsu shita yō ni, ‘saburahi' wa sono ato ‘saburai' ￫ ‘samurai' to gokei henka o togete itta ga, chi’i ni kankei naku bushi zenpan o kono shu no go de yobu yō ni natta no wa, Edo jidai chikaku kara deari, sore made wa kizoku ya shōgun nado no kashin dearu jōkyū bushi ni gentei sarete ita.

previously mentioned | as | ‘saburahi’ | as-for | after that | ‘saburai' ￫ ‘samurai' | (quot.) | word form | change | (obj.) | went accomplishing-and | status | regardless of | bushi | overall | (obj.) | this type | of | word | with | to call | when it came to | Edo period | near | from | was-and | until then | as-for | aristocrats | or | shoguns | etc. | of | vassals | were | higher-ranking warriors | to | was limited

In the “Vocabulario da Lingoa de Iapam" (literally the "Japanese – Portuguese Dictionary”), published in early seventeenth century, gave the terms “bushi” and “mononohu” were given Portuguese translations meaning “warrior” (bujin) and “military man” (gunjin), respectively. However, “saburai” was translated as “a nobleman or person to be respected”, so it was already widely recognized that samurais were a special class of people in the warrior (bushi) hierarchy.