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めんこい Japanese meaning | Kotomora

めんこい

also: めごい · めんごい

め

ん

こ

い

Meanings

1

i-adjective

cute; adorable; dear; lovely

Dialectal adjective used in Tōhoku and Hokkaidō to express affection for people, animals, or things. Equivalent to standard Japanese かわいい.

この子こ犬いぬ、めんこいね。
This puppy is so cute, isn't it?
ばあちゃんが編あん

だ

手て

袋ぶくろ

、

めんこく

て

使つか

え

ない

。

The gloves grandma knitted are too adorable to use.

Written forms

めんこいUsage92%
Most common form in Tōhoku and Hokkaidō dialects.
めごいUsage8%
Variant used in some Tōhoku areas.
めんごい
Variant with a nasalized consonant, also heard in Tōhoku.

Similar words

かわいい
Standard Japanese equivalent. めんこい is a dialectal variant with the same meaning but used regionally.

Etymology

Dialectal form derived from the standard Japanese めんこい, itself a variant of めごい, likely related to め (eye) and こい (dear, from 恋しい). The exact derivation is uncertain.