What does “kamen” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “kamen” to mean ‘mask’ or something to hide someone’s face in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese movies, songs, novels, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “kamen” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “kamen”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “kamen”.
- kamen – 仮面 (かめん) : a noun meaning ‘mask’ or something to hide someone’s face in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
Native speakers use this noun to refer to a mask or something to hide someone’s face in Japanese. In addition, they sometimes use this as a metaphor for something to hide the truth or such.
The definition and meanings are not so difficult, I think. To understand this noun more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.
Kamen in kanji
The kanji expression of “kamen” consists of the following two characters:
- 仮 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘temporary’, ‘false’, or such in Japanese.
- 面 : a kanji character often used to mean ‘face’ in Japanese.
From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “kamen” literally means a temporary face in Japanese. This kanji concept is not completely in line with the meanings, but still very close, I think. In a way, masks can be considered as temporary faces.
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 “kamen” through the detailed kanji check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “kamen” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “mask” in Japanese
kare wa kamen wo tot ta – 彼は仮面を取った (かれはかめんをとった)
He took off his mask.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “kare” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “kamen” to make the object in the sentence.
- tot – 取っ (とっ) : one conjugation of the verb, “toru”, which means ‘to take’, ‘to pick’, ‘to get’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better conjugation with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “tot” to make its past tense form, “tot ta”.
This is a typical usage of “kamen”. In the example, it works as a part of the expression, “kamen wo tot ta”. This expression is sometimes used in Japanese movies, video games, songs, novels and the like to mean ‘to have taken off a mask’.
Example #2: another usage of “kamen”
kamen no shita no kare no sugao – 仮面の下の彼の素顔 (かめんのしたのかれのすがお)
His real face under the mask
Below are the new words used in the example.
- 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 “kamen” and “shita”. The formed phrase literally means “the underside of a mask” 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”.
- shita – 下 (した) : a noun meaning ‘underside’, ‘bottom side’, or such in Japanese.
- no – の : the same as explained above. The second one in the example is used to join the noun phrases: “kamen no shita” and “kare no sugao”. The first noun phrase can work as a modifier to describe the second.
- no – の : the third one is a special use case of “no” explained above. This is often used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, this is used after “kare” to make its possessive case, “kare no”, which means ‘his’ in Japanese.
- sugao – 素顔 (すがお) : a noun meaning ‘true face’, ‘real face’, or such in Japanese. In the example, this works together with the possessive case, “kare no”, to mean ‘his real face’ in Japanese.
This is another typical usage of “kamen”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “kamen no shita”, which literally means ‘the underside of a mask’ in Japanese. When we want to refer to a mask or something to hide someone’s face in Japanese, anyway, “kamen” is a very good option.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “kamen” in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- kamen – 仮面 (かめん) : a noun meaning ‘mask’ or something to hide someone’s face in Japanese. These two kanji characters literally mean a temporary face in Japanese. This kanji concept is not completely in line with the meanings, but still very close, I think. In a way, masks can be considered as temporary faces. When we want to refer to a mask or something to hide someone’s face in Japanese, this noun is a very good option.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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