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As part of the explanations to the reader in the book 新完全マスターN2, I encountered
the word コマ for the first time:

[![source_book_screenshot](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l50yG.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l50yG.png)

According to jisho.org (see [entry 3.](https://jisho.org/word/%E9%BD%A3)),
齣{こま} can mean "time block", which makes perfect sense in my context, but it
looks too specific, so I would like to know if コマ can be used in other
situations.

Moreover, before checking jisho.org I also tried to find information about the
word コマ in this site and came up with [this Q&A where the meaning of 豚コマ is
discussed](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/89036/what-
does-%E3%82%B3%E3%83%9E-mean-in-this-sentence), where コマ means "shredded
(meat)", and I am wondering if it's related to コマ in my original context in
the sense that you might need to divide the lessons in manageable chunks just
as you would コマ the meat, if you know what I mean. Probably they are not
related because コマ in 豚コマ uses the kanji 細 and not 齣, but I am not sure.

To sum up my questions:

  1. Can 齣{こま} be used as "blocks" or "segments" in other situations apart from "time block"?
  2. Are 齣{こま} and 細{こま} related besides sharing the same reading?
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2023-07-21T13:36:40.890
100331
2023-07-21T21:41:45.140
2023-07-21T21:41:45.140
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question
word-usage
Is コマ in the sense of "block" or "segment" extrapolable to other situations besides "time block"?
In fact, it's even more specific than you think. コマ as a counter for classes
is almost exclusively used in university education or above. In high school or
below, most people use 時間 (or sometimes 時限) to count classes. I don't know
why, but it may have something to do with the fact that one class can be much
longer than an hour in higher education. I won't be surprised if some (non-
school) organizations have a habit of referring to or counting "sessions" (of
any kind) using コマ, but it's not common. People usually prefer 枠, 時間帯, ブロック,
セッション, etc. By the way, we almost never use the kanji 齣.

コマ肉 such as 豚コマ may be loosely related to 齣 if we trace the etymology
seriously, but to me they are basically different words.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-21T15:52:19.893
100332
2023-07-21T15:52:19.893
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answer