What does “hotaru” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “hotaru” to mean ‘firefly’ or ‘lightning bug’ in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word well as it is often used in Japanese movies, songs, manga, anime, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail with its kanji expressions. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “hotaru” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “hotaru”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “hotaru”.
- hotaru – 蛍/火垂る (ほたる) : a noun meaning ‘firefly’ or ‘lightning bug’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
Native speakers use this noun to refer to an insect or bug with a tail which shines in the evening.
This noun has the two different kanji expressions. The first one is more common; the second is highly related to the origin of this noun. To understand this noun more clearly, therefore, let me explain the second kanji expression in detail.
Hotaru in kanji
The kanji expression of “hotaru” contains the following two kanji characters:
- 火 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘fire’ in Japanese.
- 垂 : a kanji character used to mean ‘to hang down’, ‘to droop’, ‘to drop’, or such in Japanese.
From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “hotaru” literally means ‘hang down fire’ or such in Japanese. So, its kanji expression is not completely in line with the meanings, but it’s a good metaphor for fireflies, I think. The tails of flying fireflies look like fires hung down from the sky. This kanji concept represents well the reason Japanese people in the past started to call fireflies “hotaru”.
When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “hotaru” through the detailed kanji check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “hotaru” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “fireflies” in Japanese
watashi tachi wa kinou kawazoi de hotaru wo mi ta – 私達は昨日川沿いで火垂るを見た (わたしたちはきのうかわぞいでほたるをみた)
We saw fireflies at the riverside yesterday
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- tachi – 達 (たち) : a suffix used after a noun or pronoun to make its plural form. In the example, this is used after “watashi” to make its plural form, “watashi tachi”, which means ‘we’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “watashi tachi” to make the subject in the sentence.
- kinou – 昨日 (きのう) : a noun meaning ‘yesterday’ in Japanese. This can also work as an adverb. In the example, this works as an adverb to say “yesterday” in Japanese.
- kawazoi – 川沿い (かわぞい) : a noun meaning ‘riverside’ in Japanese.
- de – で : a case particle used to say where someone does something. In the example, this is used after “kawazoi” to say where “watashi tachi” saw fireflies.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “hotaru” to make the object word in the sentence.
- mi – 見 (み) : one conjugation of the verb, “miru”, which means ‘to see’, ‘to look’, ‘to watch’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. In the example, this is used after “mi” to make its past tense form, “mi ta”, which means ‘to have seen’ in Japanese.
This is a typical usage of “hotaru”. In this example, it is the object in the sentence and means ‘fireflies’ in Japanese.
Example #2: another usage of “hotaru”
hotaru no kazu ga het te iru – 蛍の数が減っている (ほたるのかずがへっている)
The number of fireflies is decreasing.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns. Normally, the first one can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this is used to join “hotaru” and “kazu”. The formed phrase literally means ‘the number of fireflies’ in Japanese. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this case particle is very similar to that of the English preposition, “of”.
- kazu – 数 (かず) : a noun meaning ‘number’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “hotaru no kazu” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- het – 減っ (へっ) : one conjugation of the verb, “heru”, which means ‘to decrease’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- te – て : a conjunctive particle used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its te form. In the example, this is used after “het” to make its te form, “het te”. Verbs need to be changed to their te forms to be connected with “iru”.
- iru – いる : an auxiliary verb used to express the continuity of the action described by the preceding verb. In the example, this is used to express the continuity of the action described by the preceding te-formed verb which means ‘to decrease’.
This is another typical usage of “hotaru”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase which means ‘the number of fireflies’ in Japanese. Unfortunately, the number of fireflies in Japan seems to be decreasing because of human activities resulting in the habitat destruction. When we want to say “firefly” or “fireflies” in Japanese, anyway, “hotaru” is the best option.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “hotaru” in detail with its kanji expressions. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- hotaru – 蛍/火垂る (ほたる) : a noun meaning ‘firefly’ or ‘lightning bug’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Native speakers use this noun to refer to an insect or bug with a tail which shines in the evening. The two kanji characters used in the second kanji expression literally mean ‘hang down fire’ or such in Japanese. So, the kanji expression is not completely in line with the meanings, but it’s a good metaphor for fireflies, I think. The tails of flying fireflies look like fires hung down from the sky. This kanji concept represents well the reason Japanese people in the past started to call fireflies “hotaru”.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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