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In Aikido, different dojos seem to latch on to using either _dori_ or _tori_
when describing grabbing attacks. For instance one dojo might say:

Katate **Dori**

Another would say:

Katate **Tori**

Each dojo will profess that their way of saying / spelling it is the more
traditional and correct. Is there a difference between these two similar
terms, and if so which one is more correct for denoting a grab?
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2011-06-08T16:15:23.987
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word-choice pronunciation rōmaji rendaku
What is the difference between tori vs. dori?
Looking at goo.ne.jp's dictionary (based off 大辞泉):

> １ 手の中におさめる。手に持つ。

Source: <http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/161480/m0u/%E5%8F%96%E3%82%8B/>

With the last part of the definition meaning to hold in one's hand. This
matches more closes with the definition of denoting a grab that you are
referring to. I was not able to find どり denoting the same meaning, only a
usage meant for the indication of volume:

> （「…どり」の形で、数量を表す語に付けて用いる）

Source: <http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/160951/m0u/>

I've also confirmed this in 大辞林, which lists definition 1 as:

> 手に持つ。

"Hold in hand"
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2011-06-08T16:34:13.457
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The Japanese Wikipedia page for Aikido refers to the term as 片手取り, but doesn't
give any information on how the word is read. The word also doesn't appear to
show up in the dictionary.

So, essentially, there is a possibility that the ending is read -どり rather
than -とり. A quick Google search brings up one or two results that explicitly
say it's read as かたてどり, but nothing definitive. It seems clear, however, that
there is no difference between かたてどり and かたてとり besides the one character in
its spelling.

In my opinion, it would be read "dori", as it happens a lot in Japanese that
consonants become voiced when used as a suffix like this.
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2011-06-08T17:00:11.413
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Tori and Dori are the same word. Because Dori is the voiced version of Tori,
to a Japanese speaker there would be no perceived difference. However, katate
dori would probably be easier to be spoken for a native speaker and thus would
appear that they may be the more correct answer.

another more famous example of this is when you combine Ao and Sora together
you get AoZora.
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2011-06-08T23:22:08.857
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I know very little about Aikido and can only explain general facts about the
Japanese language.

“Tori” and “dori” in these example are the noun form of the verb _toru_ (取る;
take, grab). In isolation, this noun form is read as “tori.”

Both _Katate Tori_ and _Katate Dori_ are compound words made of _katate_ (片手;
one hand) and _tori_. However, in Japanese, the first consonant of the second
component of a compound word is often changed as k→g, s→z, t→d and h→b. This
phenomenon is called [rendaku](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendaku) (連濁).
Note that I said “often,” not “always.” If rendaku occurs in your case, the
compound word becomes _Katate Dori_. If not, it becomes _Katate Tori_.

There are some patterns when rendaku tends to occur and when it cannot occur
as is explained in Wikipedia, but there is no absolute rule that explains
everything. In the case of _katate_ \+ _tori_ , it is certainly possible to
have rendaku here, so _Katate Dori_ is a possible form. But this does not mean
that rendaku must occur, so the form _Katate Tori_ is also possible.

Often only one form survives and the other form dies out, in which case we can
say that one form is correct and the other is incorrect in the modern
language. In some cases, the version without rendaku and the version with
rendaku both survive but mean different things. For example, both _yamakawa_
and _yamagawa_ are compound words made of _yama_ (山; mountain) and _kawa_ (川;
river), but _yamakawa_ means mountains and rivers whereas _yamagawa_ means a
river in a mountain.

But in your case, it seems that both forms are used in the same way judging
from several webpages in English I found by web search. (I checked the pages
in English because it is difficult to search this in Japanese, because when
written in Japanese, both become 片手取り, as Andrew stated in his answer.) From
this, I see no evidence that one is “more correct” than the other, whatever
“more correct” means.
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2011-06-08T23:33:19.297
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If its talking about strength then my opinion would be that どり would be a
better choice than とり. The reason for this is because just like ペラペラ (fluent)
ベラべラ (chatter) ころころ (the sound of something rolling) ごろごろ( a louder sound of
something rolling) and so forth tend to become voiced when its talking about
exaggeration or strength. Another example ザザ (the sound of heavy rain). Where
とり just sounds weaker in context in general. Any flaws to my theory?
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