# Adjective for 'old' as in age



## kyn

Is there an adj "old" (opposite "young", not opposite "new") in Japanese? How do you say "an old turltle", "old tree" or "an old man" in Japanese?


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## unprimesuspect

How do you say "an old turtle"

（年を）老いた亀　としをおいたかめ

"old tree" 

老木　ろうぼく
老樹　ろうじゅ

"an old man (person)" 

老人　ろうじん

"an old woman"

老婆　ろうば

My Japanese is a little (=really) rusty but that's how I'd say them.


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## Captain Haddock

Your "old man" and "old woman" words are fine and often used.

Normally, instead of an adjective for old, the relative clause 年（を）取った is used. You can also use 年寄り(になった). So:

年取った亀 -> old turtle


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## unprimesuspect

What I meant to say, I think , was: 


1. 年を取った亀 (としを　とった　かめ）

or

2. 老いた亀　（おいた　かめ）

Somehow, those two got mixed up in my head. Although if you aren't careful with your intonation, the second sentence could sound like:


おーいた、亀。


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## Flaminius

> 2. 老いた亀　（おいた　かめ）
> 
> Somehow, those two got mixed up in my head. Although if you aren't careful with your intonation, the second sentence could sound like:
> 
> 
> おーいた、亀。


It is perhaps to avoid such a funny misunderstanding (or 置いた亀) that I encounter more instances of 年老いた亀 than those of 老いた亀.


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## unprimesuspect

> 年老いた亀



頭がすっきりしました。


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## Uebersetzer

As for old tree, wouldn't just 「古い木」work?
I found this sentence on ALC dictionary:
"神道の神様も、太陽の女神、月の神、それに古い木にまで神様がいる。"

For old man/woman, how about 「お年寄り」 so that there's no need to distinguish the gender.

ほんなら


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## unprimesuspect

古い normally goes with old things as opposed to aged living beings but since trees aren't moving/sentient beings, you could use it to describe an old tree. (This reminds me of a conversation I had with a little boy who told me that all trees are dead because they can't talk. )


お年寄り is a synonym for 老人; we just need to know when to use which one since they aren't always interchangeable. 高齢者 is probably the most formal/correct term for broadcasting and what not.


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## Uebersetzer

Hey unprimesuspect,

Thanks for the explanation on the usage of 「古い」。I don't feel comfortable saying 「老木」.Loan words don't really sound like Japanese.
As for the 「高齢者」, it is right when used in a broadcasting environment like 「高齢者社会」but in a conversation I believe that 「年配の方」would sound much better and common.

Cheers,


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## unprimesuspect

Hello again. 

I on the other hand prefer 老木 and especially 老樹; I think they sound and look very dignified just as old trees do. A little side note: 古い木 can also mean "old wood" as in 古い木の机 (an old wooden desk).

As for elderly people, if we are just casually chatting, my family tends to use おじいちゃん and おばあちゃん more than any other words:

「あのおじいちゃん、なんか困ってはらへん？」
「そうやな、なんか具合悪そうな感じやな。」

So both お年寄り and 老人 sound quite formal to me though not as stiff as 高齢者. Though for prose, I'd probably revert to 老人:
古い木のベンチに一人の老人が座っていた。​


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## Uebersetzer

毎度！
Thanks again for your comments. As for the 老木 or other loan words with 音読み,I still insist that they're not so clear for they may mislead the listener without a proper context. ろうぼく could also lead to 老僕 and that could be avoided by saying simply 古い木, which would perfectly also mean "old tree".

Thank you for the examples in 関西弁, they make me feel at home since I already got my こてこて大阪人 nationality recently. 

As for the 「おじいちゃん」、「おばあちゃん」thing, I agree with you if one talks ABOUT them(When not related) but not TO them.

If you refer to someone you don't know as 「おじいちゃん」、「おばあちゃん」where I live you might just as well hear 「お前のじいちゃん、ばあちゃんちゃうで！」or, in the worst case 「なにゆっとんねん」　or 「おんどりゃ～なにさらしとんねん」。。。：）


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## unprimesuspect

老僕（an elderly male servant) and 老木 (an old tree) won't be that easy to mix up so I wouldn't worry about that too much. 



> I agree with you if one talks ABOUT them(When not related) but not TO them.


「ちょっと、そこのおじーちゃん、あぶないあぶない、どいてちょーだい。」

That's something my neighbors would definitely say. However, I wouldn't go up to a complete stranger in Tokyo and start addressing her as おばあちゃん, though if I spoke with full-on 関西弁、I might get away with it.


When people ask me if I was raised bilingual, I tell them, sure, I was raised in both 共通語 and 関西弁 (京ことば).


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## Uebersetzer

unprimesuspect said:


> ???an elderly male servant) and ?? (an old tree) won't be that easy to mix up so I wouldn't worry about that too much.
> 
> You're right when you say these words can´t be confused, specially  with a proper context. My point is that why should one use a loan word when the thing can be said in "proper Japanese",i.e. a word ALL PEOPLE can understand without even blinking...Even children can understand ??? but I'm not sure they'll understand ?????To be honest I NEVER HEARD ?? in my life and just hate ????? because they just confuse people.
> 
> ???????????????????????????????????
> 
> That's something my neighbors would definitely say. However, I wouldn't go up to a complete stranger in Tokyo and start addressing her as ??????, though if I spoke with full-on ????I might get away with it.
> You  see, it isn't something nice to say to people you don't know...In Osaka you might have to hear something you don't want to...I think that's common in every language. Even in my native language Portuguese one can't approach unknown people with such language. People will always say, hey "I have a name"...
> 
> 
> 
> When people ask me if I was raised bilingual, I tell them, sure, I was raised in both ??? and ??? (????).


I didn't know something like that was possible...For me Kansai people are the worst ??? speakers(Because the accent is quite the oppsosite of that of ????, specially people from Osaka. Well, they can change the grammar and words but they can never get rid of that drawl...I love to hear the long vowels at the end of the word...???????????????????
When I was a teacher at a university in Kyoto I saw too guys boasting they could speak ???. One guy was from Fukuoka andchallenged his friend from Kyoto to see who could speak only in ??? then the guy from kyoto said ?????? 
I also used to make fun od students asking  them to say the ??? of? ???just to hear ??????and then asked the ????just to hear ???????????Definitely Kansai is another world. And I LOVE it!!!?


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## unprimesuspect

Uebersetzer,

Maybe my computer decided to go monolingual on me but your Japanese characters aren't showing up.


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