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I've noticed the following sets of words that seem to have a very obvious pattern, and, of course, their meanings are very closely related:

  • これ、　それ、　あれ、　どれ
  • この、　その、　あの、　どの
  • ここ、　そこ、　あそこ、　どこ

What are the origins of these sets of words? I'm asking them all together because I'm thinking that their origin is interrelated.

hippietrail
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voithos
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    こっち、そっち、あっち、どっち, こなた、そなた、あなた、どなた, and more. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Jun 12 '11 at 03:35
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    My favorite set of this type is こいつ, そいつ, あいつ. Haven't seen どいつ yet though! – sartak Jun 12 '11 at 04:15
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    @sartak I usually only see it in the phrase どいつもこいつも. – Amanda S Jun 12 '11 at 05:02
  • Forgetting こう、そう、ああ、どう?? I've personally never (or maybe once) heard anyone use 「ああ」. – istrasci Jun 12 '11 at 05:21
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    @istrasci I see ああ a lot with いう, like ああいう人 ("a person like that") – Amanda S Jun 12 '11 at 05:28
  • @Amanda, @Makdad - Is it a regional thing??? Never heard that living in Osaka. – istrasci Jun 12 '11 at 19:27
  • @istrasci It's pretty normal in Tokyo, for what that's worth. Maybe Osakans have a different saying instead? – deceze Jun 13 '11 at 04:03
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    @sartak I sometimes hear 「これやらかしたのはどこのどいつだ！！」which I may, not reading the 空気, accidentally reply with 「ヨーロッパのドイツ」 – syockit Jun 20 '11 at 19:34

1 Answers1

5

Well, if you use the kanjis, you see the pattern even better!

此れ、 其れ、 彼、 何れ

此の、 其の、 彼の、 何の

此処、 其処、 彼処、 何処

From there, the suffixes "れ"、 "の"、 and "こ" indicate whether you're talking about a thing, a "possessive", or a location.
The prefixes are, as you had guessed, the "distance": close, somehow far, far, and the question "which".

So, "これ" is the close thing, そのX is "the X of mildly far away" and "どこ" is "which location?".
Understanding the others is then straightforward.

Amanda S
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Axioplase
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