あかん

Japanese
Alternative spelling
明かん (archaic)

Etymology

A contraction from the idiom 埒が明かぬ (rachi ga akanu, “not get up to speed, not get off the ground”, literally “the fence doesn't open”), where akanu is an archaic negative form of the verb 明く (aku, “to open, to open up”).[1][2][3]

  • /rat͡ɕi ɡa akanu/ → /akanu/ → /akaɴ/

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) あか​ん [àkáꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [2])
  • IPA(key): [a̠kã̠ɴ]

Verb

あかん or アカン • (akan) 

  1. Negative form of あく (aku)
  2. (Kansai, Hokuriku, Gifu-Aichi) to make little progress; a waste of time
  3. (Kansai, Hokuriku, Gifu-Aichi) something that is not good, something that is forbidden
    酒(さけ)はあかん
    sake wa akan
    alcohol is forbidden
    • 1984, “道頓堀人情”, 若山かほる (lyrics), performed by 鏡五郎:
      負(ま)けたらあかん
      maketara akan
      you must not give in

Usage notes

Formerly spelled with kanji as 明かん. In modern usage, generally written with hiragana as あかん.

Synonyms

References
  1. “明ん”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. “明かん”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  3. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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