君が代

[ika_squid]

今日は. I noticed that the Japanese anthem'Kimigayo', or 'Imperial Reign' is spelled as '君が代'. '上' can mean emperor when pronounced as 'kimi'. However, '君' means 'you(masculine term for female)' when pronounced as 'kimi'. Why then is the title '君が代'' other than '上が代'? Also, how is it grammatically correct by saying that 'emperor ga reign' is 'Imperial Reign'? Shouldn't 'no' be used rather than 'ga'?

[Gaijinian]

ika_squid wrote:
君' means 'you(masculine term for female)' when pronounced as 'kimi'.

...No, not quite. It is a term used among friends, or someone higher to someone lower. Females can use it to, and it is not a term for a female...

Wiki!!
The beginning phrase-"Kimi Ga Yo"-was originally written "Wa Ga Kimi"(我が君, also approximately translated to "My Lord"). As time passed, the form using "Kimi Ga Yo" spread. At this point in time "Kimi" meant "Monarch" or "Emperor". However, in a time without mass communication, to the common people the Emperor seemed to be an untouchable, unimaginable god, floating above the clouds and a thing of long ago legend or fairy tales. So, it is also possible that the lyrics praying for the long life of "My Lord" were separated from any sort of loyalty and used instead as a prayer for the continuation of peace. For this reason, when the peacefully Heian Period changed to the bloody Edo Period, the song once again became used as a simple celebration song among common people. To go along with this, the meaning of "Kimi" also underwent a transformation. For example, when the song was sung in celebration of a wedding, "Kimi" came to mean the groom and the song was used to wish for the groom's long life and his family's health.
詳しくはこちら：
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimi_Ga_Yo#Lyrics
日本語の方は：
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%9B% ... C%E4%BB%A3

[ika_squid]

Thank you, this is fascinating. However, this answers only some of my question.

[Gaijinian]

Even 君 can mean 'lord.' 君が代 is OK, grammatically, just has no copula.
残り質問ある？