The word "tsunami" is originally a

The word "tsunami" is originally a Japanese word, but today it's commonly used in English. And it's been all over the news since a powerful earthquake sent a wall of water into northeastern Japan on March 11.

The first English use of the word happened more than 100 years ago, says linguist Ben Zimmer, of the Visual Thesaurus. That's when an earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan, very close to where the recent tsunami hit.

"There was reporting in the National Geographic Magazine, and it said, 'On the evening of June 15, 1896, the northeast coast of Hondo, the main island of Japan, was struck by a great earthquake wave,' " Zimmer says, "and then it explained that the Japanese term for this was 'tsunami.' "

From that first mention, the term became more widespread — especially after the disaster that devastated Indonesia in 2004.

A Question Of Accuracy

Zimmer suggests that perhaps "tsunami" spread in use because the common synonym, "tidal wave," is inaccurate — waves from underwater earthquakes have nothing to do with tides.

Then again, "tsunami" isn't technically accurate either. Just ask professor Robert Ramsey, chairman of the department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Maryland.


"The normal etymology of that word is tsu plus nami, " he says, "which is 'harbor' plus 'wave.' But you know, these things don't just occur in harbors."

Ramsey also points out that the words we borrow from Japanese are usually cultural ones, such as futon, sushi, karaoke, manga or anime.

Those words all refer to things that are very specific to Japan. But tsunamis are more general — they can happen anywhere in the world.

We've brought it over into English anyway, changing the pronunciation a bit, by dropping the T-S sound from the Japanese "TSU-nami," and just pronouncing it as "SU-nami."

Japan's Long Tsunami History

It is fitting that the global word for this natural disaster is the word the Japanese people use: Tsunamis happen frequently in Japan. Almost one-third of all recorded large tsunamis happened in that country.


JAPAN IN CRISIS
The Recorded History Of Quakes Is A Long One
Drawing on the meticulous record-keeping of Japanese officials, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a website that lists tsunamis in Japan going back to the year 684.

And that long history is reflected in Japan's cultural work, says Susan Napier, professor of Japanese studies at Tufts University.

"There is this very intense relationship that the Japanese have with the sea," Napier says. "They're an island country; fish is the main staple of their diet; all the great woodblock print artists have many, many pictures of the ocean."

Napier says that in early Japanese literature, disaster narratives are focused on earthquakes and fire — perhaps because many pre-modern literary figures lived in Kyoto, far from the coast.

In modern times, though, many major cultural figures have created works about tsunamis. Napier mentions Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburō Ōe.

"He wrote a book called Kōzui wa waga tamashii ni oyobi — 'the floodwaters have come into my soul,' " she says. "It's about a group of young anarchists, and they dream that the world will eventually be destroyed by nuclear energy, and then a wave will rise."

Napier also mentions animator Hayao Miyazaki's 2007 film Ponyo,which tells the story of a sea rising up and submerging an entire town.

"There is a kind of melancholy in Japanese culture," she says. "There's a term for it called mono no aware, which means 'the sadness of things.' It's basically how you feel on a spring day when you see the cherry blossoms, and you know that any minute, a wind is going to come up and blow them away."

Napier says that the idea that "the creations of human beings actually do go into dust, or into the waves, actually makes life more beautiful and more profound. It's a very deeply rooted part of Japanese culture."

A Word For A Tragedy

In this discussion of the technicalit

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Kata "tsunami" adalah kata Jepang awalnya, tetapi hari ini umumnya digunakan dalam bahasa Inggris. Dan sudah seluruh berita sejak gempa kuat dikirim dinding air ke timur laut Jepang pada tanggal 11 Maret.Penggunaan bahasa Inggris pertama kata terjadi lebih dari 100 tahun yang lalu, mengatakan ahli bahasa Ben Zimmer, dari tesaurus Visual. Itu adalah ketika gempa melanda lepas pantai timur Jepang, sangat dekat ke mana terserang tsunami melanda."Tidak melaporkan di majalah National Geographic, dan berkata, 'pada malam 15 Juni 1896, Pantai Timur Laut Hondo, pulau utama Jepang, terpana oleh gelombang gempa bumi besar yang,'" Zimmer mengatakan, "dan kemudian ia menjelaskan bahwa istilah bahasa Jepang untuk ini adalah 'tsunami.' "Dari yang pertama menyebutkan, istilah ini menjadi lebih luas-terutama setelah bencana yang hancur Indonesia pada tahun 2004.Pertanyaan akurasiZimmer menyarankan bahwa mungkin "tsunami" menyebar digunakan karena sinonim umum, "gelombang," tidak akurat — gelombang dari underwater gempa bumi tidak ada hubungannya dengan pasang surut.Kemudian lagi, "tsunami" tidak teknis akurat baik. Hanya meminta Profesor Robert Ramsey, Ketua Departemen Bahasa Asia Tenggara dan budaya di University of Maryland."Normal Etimologi kata itu adalah tsu ditambah nami," katanya, "yang adalah 'pelabuhan' ditambah 'gelombang.' Tapi kau tahu, hal ini tidak hanya terjadi dalam pelabuhan."Ramsey juga menunjukkan bahwa kata-kata yang kita meminjam dari Jepang yang biasanya budaya, seperti kasur, sushi, karaoke, manga atau anime.Kata-kata yang semua mengacu pada hal-hal yang sangat spesifik ke Jepang. Tapi tsunami lebih umum — mereka dapat terjadi di mana saja di dunia.Kami telah membawanya ke dalam bahasa Inggris lagi pula, mengubah pengucapan sedikit, dengan menjatuhkan suara T-S dari Jepang "TSU-nami", dan hanya mengucapkan itu sebagai "SU-nami."Sejarah panjang Tsunami JepangSepatutnya bahwa kata global untuk bencana alam ini adalah kata Japanese people Gunakan: tsunami terjadi sering di Jepang. Hampir sepertiga dari semua rekaman besar tsunami terjadi di negara itu.JEPANG DALAM KRISISRekaman sejarah gempa adalah panjangMenggambar pada pencatatan teliti pejabat Jepang, Nasional Administrasi Kelautan dan atmosfer memiliki website yang berisi daftar tsunami di Jepang yang akan kembali ke tahun 684.Dan bahwa sejarah panjang tercermin dalam karya budaya Jepang, berkata Susan Napier, Profesor studi Jepang di Universitas Tufts."Ada hubungan ini sangat intens yang Jepang dengan laut," kata Napier. "Mereka ada negara; ikan adalah pokok utama dari diet mereka; Semua seniman besar woodblock mencetak memiliki banyak, banyak gambar laut."Napier mengatakan bahwa di awal sastra Jepang, kisah-kisah bencana yang berfokus pada gempa bumi dan kebakaran-mungkin karena banyak tokoh-tokoh sastra yang pra-modern tinggal di Kyoto, jauh dari pantai.Di zaman modern, meskipun, banyak tokoh-tokoh budaya utama telah membuat karya tentang tsunami. Napier menyebutkan hadiah Nobel pemenang Kenzaburō Ōe."He wrote a book called Kōzui wa waga tamashii ni oyobi — 'the floodwaters have come into my soul,' " she says. "It's about a group of young anarchists, and they dream that the world will eventually be destroyed by nuclear energy, and then a wave will rise."Napier also mentions animator Hayao Miyazaki's 2007 film Ponyo,which tells the story of a sea rising up and submerging an entire town."There is a kind of melancholy in Japanese culture," she says. "There's a term for it called mono no aware, which means 'the sadness of things.' It's basically how you feel on a spring day when you see the cherry blossoms, and you know that any minute, a wind is going to come up and blow them away."Napier says that the idea that "the creations of human beings actually do go into dust, or into the waves, actually makes life more beautiful and more profound. It's a very deeply rooted part of Japanese culture."A Word For A TragedyIn this discussion of the technicalit