Where does the phrase だらけ come from? I only know だ as a copula and ら as a
conditional marker or pluralizing suffix, are either of these at use in this
phrase? My dictionary lists it as "implying (negatively) that something is
full of".
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2014-09-28T04:56:06.840
18833
2014-09-28T05:12:14.657
question
etymology
Where does だらけ come from?
As far as I know, there is no consensus for the origin of this word. I've
checked a number of resources including 日本国語大辞典 (but the 精選版, not the full
edition), 日本文法大辞典, and the other various monolingual dictionaries I have at
hand, and none offer an explanation.

Martin offers one theory, courtesy of Ōtsuki, on page 136 of his 1975
_Reference Grammar of Japanese_ , where he discusses the etymology of several
words including だらけ. First he notes:

> Where do these words come from? **Many of those with distinctively voiced
> initials go back to elements with voiceless initials, having picked up the
> voicing as part of the well-known compound nigori process**. The restrictive
> だけ is from the noun たけ 'length; total quantity', related to たか 'amount,
> volume' and たか- 'high, tall' (as is たけ 'peak').

He gives a number of other examples that fit this pattern, then discusses だらけ
very briefly:

> **The origin of だらけ is problematical; one suggestion (Ōtsuki) has it related
> to たらたら 'dripping profusely'**.

I don't know if you'll find this information satisfying, but it's all I can
dig up at the moment. Perhaps someone else will have something to add.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-28T05:12:14.657
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2014-09-28T05:12:14.657
18833
answer