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Topic. I've heard/seen somewhere that `被【かぶ】る` was "gairaigo-fied" (?) from
the English word "cover" (similar to `ダブる` or `デモる`), and then presumably
given ateji from `被【おお】う` since the meanings overlap so much. I searched
several dictionaries for some sort of verification but have found nothing so
far. Is there any truth to this?
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2011-10-24T19:26:30.300
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2012-08-05T09:42:20.537
2012-08-05T09:42:20.537
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question
words etymology colloquial-language loanwords folklore
Does 被【かぶ】る have any relation to "cover"?
As Tsuyoshi says, there is no truth to it. The earliest reference given in the
[日]{に}[本]{ほん}[国]{こく}[語]{ご}[大]{だい}[辞]{じ}[典]{てん} is from the mid-13th century
[観]{かん}[智]{じ}[院]{いん}[本]{ぼん} edition of the
[[類]{るい}[聚]{じゅ}[名]{みょう}[義]{ぎ}[抄]{しょう}](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A1%9E%E8%81%9A%E5%90%8D%E7%BE%A9%E6%8A%84):

> 盖 オホフ カフル

Even English barely had the word
[cover](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cover) at that point.

Also, according to the same dictionary, `かぶる` is derived from `かがふる`, which is
even older--It's in the Man'yōshū (9C):

> [可]{か}[之]{し}[古]{こ}[伎]{き}[夜]{や} / [美]{み}[許]{こ}[等]{と} [加]{か}[我]{が}[布]{ふ}[理]{り}
> / ...
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2011-10-25T00:44:40.233
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2011-10-25T05:14:09.720
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answer