間投詞(かんとうし)

かんとうし
noun
interjection (part of speech)
formalwrittenlanguageeducation
1. interjection (grammatical term)
A part of speech that expresses emotion, surprise, greeting, or response, functioning independently from the sentence structure. Examples in Japanese include ああ, おい, まあ, and えっ.
「ああ」は間投詞(かんとうし)の一(ひと)つだ。
'Ah' is one type of interjection.
日本語(にほんご)の間投詞(かんとうし)は会話(かいわ)でよく使(つか)われる。
Japanese interjections are frequently used in conversation.
国語(こくご)の授業(じゅぎょう)で、品詞(ひんし)の分類(ぶんるい)として名詞(めいし)、動詞(どうし)、形容詞(けいようし)、間投詞(かんとうし)などを習(なら)った。
In Japanese language class, we learned parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and interjections.

Composed of 間(かん) (between), 投(とう) (to throw), and 詞(し) (word) — literally 'a word thrown in between.' A grammatical term used in both Japanese and general linguistics.

Usage

Used in grammar education and linguistics. Japanese has a rich system of interjections, many of which vary by gender, formality, and region. In traditional Japanese grammar (国文法(こくぶんぽう)), the term 感動詞(かんどうし) (literally 'emotion word') is used instead, covering both interjections and greetings.

Common collocations

Similar words

  • 感動詞(かんどうし): interjection (traditional Japanese grammar term) — the term used in Japanese school grammar, covering the same category but also including greetings and responses
  • 品詞(ひんし): part of speech — the general term for grammatical categories
  • 感嘆詞(かんたんし): exclamation — sometimes used as a synonym for 間投詞(かんとうし), though it more specifically suggests words expressing strong emotion

Related Words

Compare: 感動詞(かんどうし) (interjection)
Compare: 品詞(ひんし) (part of speech)
Compare: 感嘆詞(かんたんし) (exclamation)
general
Added 2026.4.20 19:39 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
24500/24658_kantoushi