The second word named in the overview article is a pair: “right” and “left” — migi and hidari. They are so familiar that many people have probably never wondered where they came from. In the chapter “Hidari ka migi ka” (“Left or Right?”) of Nihon no Kotoba (1940), Shinmura Izuru lines up several theories about the etymology of these two words.
The custom of honoring the left
Before etymology, Shinmura touches on an old custom of Japan: that in ancient times the left side was honored. Looking at the classics, he says, one clearly sees the examples of always putting the left first and the right after when the two are written side by side.
Shinmura explains this custom by tying it to a way of thinking that reveres the sun. In ancient times, if you sat facing south, your left was east. From the thought of honoring the east, where the sun rises, the notion of honoring the left arose — so he suggests. As examples he gives phrases that use “left” to mean east: sanzā (山左, “mountain-left,” meaning east of the mountains), kōsa (江左, “river-left,” east of the river), and kansa (関左, “barrier-left,” east of the barrier, the Kantō).
Theories about hidari
So where did the word hidari itself come from? Shinmura introduces theories like these.
- Hi-tari (日足り, “sun-sufficient”) or hi-tari (日垂り, “sun-hanging”): a view by people of old, that the etymology involves the sun (hi).
- Hi-izuru (日出る, “sun-rising”) or hi-teri (日照り, “sun-shining”): likewise, theories tying it to the sun.
The character for “sun,” hi, sits at the center of these etymologies. It’s an explanation that fits well with the custom seen above, of tying the left to the east, the direction of the rising sun.
Theories about migi
Migi, meanwhile, has different theories.
The theory Shinmura reports is this: migi is “bent,” hidari is “straight” — that is, right means “the thing that bends” and left “the thing that is straight.” The evidence given is the act of drawing a bow. When drawing a bow, the ancient Japanese held the bow-hand straight and bent the arm of the hand that pulled the string. From this posture, it’s said, the words arose: migi = magaru (to bend), hidari = straight.
Shinmura introduces this as something “heard by hearsay,” and points out that under this theory migi becomes “bent” and hidari “straight,” which is the exact opposite of the bad sense of “left” in words like sasen (demotion) and sadō (the wrong path).
Shinmura Izuru’s own theory
So what did Shinmura himself think? About migi, he says this. He takes the real form of migi to be migiri, found in old language or in modern dialects, and suggests that it may share its etymology with nigiri, meaning “grip” — the right hand being the nigiri-te, the hand that grips things. He adds that the sounds ni and mi are interchangeable.
Shinmura’s manner of writing, though, is careful. After stating the theory, he limits it himself, ending “it is no more than that, I think.” In this chapter he also notes that left and right are relative notions too, swapping according to the side of the person looking.
What this tells us
The etymologies of migi and hidari are, to this day, not settled on one theory. For hidari several theories exist, and for migi too, several have coexisted since Shinmura’s time. What matters here is not so much what the right answer is as this: even for the most familiar words, the origin cannot easily be decided. Etymological research, Shinmura’s text shows, is the work of lining up several theories and checking each one’s grounds and weaknesses.
Summary
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Honoring the left | In old Japan the left was honored, tied to a way of thinking that reveres the sun |
| Theories of hidari | Hi-tari, hi-tari, hi-izuru, hi-teri — theories tying it to the sun |
| Migi theory 1 | Migi = bent, hidari = straight, from the bow-drawing posture (Shinmura notes it comes out opposite to the sense of sasen and sadō) |
| Migi theory 2 | Shinmura’s own: migi is cognate with nigiri, “grip” — the nigiri-te |
| Status | No settled view; several theories stand side by side |
In a nutshell — migi and hidari are the most familiar of words, yet their etymologies are unsettled. Shinmura Izuru lined up the theories and set out his own with the limits of its certainty attached.