Wife in Japanese

In Japanese, what is the difference between 家内、嫁、妻、奥さん、かみさん and other words meaning wife?


Timothy Powell
Knows Japanese4y
They all mean wife.

奥さん is a polite form and should only ever be used to refer to another's wife and not your own.

妻 is what I would say is the dictionary standard noun for wife. Most neutral and polite way to refer to your own wife, or to yourself being a wife.

家内 and カミさん more old fashion/colloquial.

家内 means literally "inside the house" as in that's where a wife should be, so not a very modern term. Interestingly, 奥 means a place deep inside a house, I.e. the kitchen in a traditional Japanese house.

嫁 can mean wife, or bride. It can be used in the phrase 嫁に行った "went to be a wife", and often describes a situation where the husband and wife live with the husband's parents.
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Eiji Takano（高野 英二）
Lived in Japan (1942–1995)Author has 2K answers and 15.7M answer views4y
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What's the difference between 家内 and 妻 in Japanese?


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