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attila
Lv 6
attila asked in Society & CultureLanguages · 9 years ago

蟲 and むしむし Questions (Japanese)?

So few questions here.. I have seen both 蟲 and むしむし The hiragana when dialect is written and the kanji when Mushi is alone. What exactly does Mushi mean? is the definition different between the two above? I know 蟲 as insect but then it makes no sense to say むしむし when answering a phone...

Help!

2 Answers

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  • Orz
    Lv 5
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    I wonder what you want know...

    Answering the phone,we first say "moshimoshi"(もしもし)not mushimushi to somebody on the phone.

    moshi means "I say" (申す、もうす、mousu) in a old fashioned way."moshimoshi" is used to say "hey,Im here".

    Although 蟲 sure is an insect,It is old Kanji not to be used in everyday Kanji.It is rather 虫(むし、mushi).

    There is another word むしむし(蒸し蒸し) in Japanese. It's an adverb to mean "hot" or "humid".

  • ?
    Lv 5
    9 years ago

    Mushi means insect, bug

    the original 蟲 meaning is living thing. but modern meaning is insect.

    normally we use 虫 Instead of 蟲

    I don't understand why you say むし twice.

    Source(s): I'm Japanese
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