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I've always thought that 「横」 in 「横になる」 only refers to the fact that you're
lying as opposed to standing (so you're now horizontal from the point of view
of a standing person), regardless of your exact position. But when I search
for 「横になる」 in Google Images I mainly get pictures of people lying on their
side. Does the expression imply that position? Can I 「横になる」 on my back, on my
stomach, or in some other way?
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2019-05-21T14:08:51.050
68387
2019-05-21T16:11:27.007
2019-05-21T15:29:51.830
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question
usage
Does 横になる imply a certain position?
Originally it just means "to lie down" or "to sleep". This you can see e.g.
based on an example sentence given for one of the definitions
for「横」on『新明解国語辞典第五版』：

> よこ【横】
>
>   1. 水平の方向（の長さ）。 「―になる〔＝寝る（時と同じ姿勢をとる）〕」
>

and on『明鏡国語辞典第二版』:

> よこ【横】
>
> ❺ 物の置かれた形が、水平に長く伸びていること。 「ソファーで━になる」

In this context「横」should then be interpreted as an antonym to「縦」, i.e. as
lying down (horizontal) vs standing (vertical). So yes, you can「横になる」on your
back or on your stomach, although you would tend to prefer to use the
word「寝る」if you want to specify the position like this (i.e. you would probably
want to avoid saying「仰向けに横になる」, although a quick google search does return
[some
results](https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22%E4%BB%B0%E5%90%91%E3%81%91%E3%81%AB%E6%A8%AA%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B%22)
for this type of usage as well).

However, I feel some may use it to denote "lying on one's side" in particular.
Especially if the context is a discussion about sleeping posture (and it is
implied that the person is already in bed), then it would almost certainly be
used exclusively in that sense, as opposed to「仰向けになる（/寝る）」and「うつ伏せになる（/寝る）」.
[These google search
results](https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22%E5%AF%9D%E3%82%8B%E6%99%82%E6%A8%AA%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B%E3%81%A8%22)
demonstrate this type of usage; one example would be「寝るときに横になると息が苦しくなり(...)」.
Still, even then, using「横向きになる（/寝る）」is usually preferable, as it is less
ambiguous in meaning.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-21T15:08:00.710
68388
2019-05-21T16:11:27.007
2019-05-21T16:11:27.007
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answer