Where does “いやいや” come from?

いやいや (Japanese) comes from Japanese いや, from Japanese や, from Japanese じゃ, from Japanese である, from Japanese で, from Japanese ぜ, from Japanese ぞえ, from Japanese え.

いやいや (Japanese): expresses emphatic disagreement

Definitions

  1. expresses emphatic disagreement

Ancestry of “いやいや”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseいやdisagreeable, unpleasant, disgusting, offensive, abhorrent
2Japaneseand/or; is, are; Alternative form of いや
3Japaneseじゃso, then—used for connecting to a reasonable...
4JapaneseであるTo be: the copula, with the same function as だ and its polite form です
5Japaneseat; with, by, using; indicating the following...
6Japanesesentence-ending particle signifying emphasis,...
7Japaneseぞえ­ sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis, used to lightly press one's point, with affectionate overtones
8JapaneseAlternative form of い
9Middle Chinese
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Japanese Every word from Japanese ぞえ