Where does “顎が落ちる” come from?
顎が落ちる (Japanese) comes from Japanese が, from Finnish -nka — Forms nouns, mainly bird names (in dialects) and some toponyms.
Ancestry of “顎が落ちる”, step by step
顎が落ちる traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Japanese が
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | が | Indicates the subject of a sentence; conjunction;... |
| 2 | Finnish | -nka | Forms nouns, mainly bird names (in dialects) and some toponyms |
via Japanese 落ちる
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 落ちる | to fall; to go down; to trip |
| 2 | Old Japanese | 落つ | to fall |
via Japanese 顎
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 顎 | jaw; chin; barb |