3 ms·

> the characters got arbitrarily attached to an existing word because they were similar in sound and meaning

• mytailorisrich 7y ago
  It does not seem arbitrary in this case because the meaning does match. I do take your point that using that word in the discussion above, which is about Japanese was not the best example. On the other hand, it is a good example in chinese.
  • fenomas 7y ago
    (A) In Japanese the meanings don't match that closely. The word didn't originally mean cute, but rather pathetic or pitiable, and evolved over time. More info: http://gogen-allguide.com/ka/kawaii.html http://gogen-allguide.com/ka/kawaii.html (B) By arbitrary here I mean that there is no linguistic connection. "Arbitrarily chosen because they are similar" => "chosen for no reason other than their similarity".