Where did "dattebayo" come from?


In Naruto, at least in the early show, he uses the catchphrase "dattebayo" in
the Japanese. [This
question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/124/why-does-naruto-have-
a-catch-phrase) answered on a canon-level where it came from (his mother), but
I was wondering where (if anywhere) it came from in terms of the language. I
know that there's no direct translation, but is it a sort of portmanteau or
version of somebody's name or of some phrase in Japanese?




_Dattebayo_ (だってばよ) is not really proper Japanese, but you can sort of see how
it would come about linguistically as a sentence-ending phrase. It's very
impolite, somewhat childish, and basically just combines different ways of
putting emphasis on the statement in a not terribly meaningful way.

First, the _da_ (だ) is a standard way to end a sentence (copula) in Japanese.
Depending on the construction of the sentence, some sentences will end with
_da_ while others end with a dictionary form verb. It should be emphasized
that using this would not be considered polite. The polite version of _da_ is
_desu_ (です).
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language#Inflection_and_conjugation)
has some more information on copula verbs and verb conjugations in Japanese.

Next, _tteba_ (ってば) is sort of a set expression/phrase which adds emphasis.
This is a shortened (and hence less polite) version of _tteieba_ (っていえば). It
can be attached to a noun, in which case it would be translated roughly as
"speaking of" in many contexts. In other contexts it could be interpreted
(somewhat rudely) as "I'm talking to you" or "listen to me". You might use it
with a person's name to attract their attention in this way. It's roughly
equivalent to _ttara_ (ったら) but this latter one is more commonly used by
females. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_particles#tteba)
calls it a "strong emphasis marker" which is probably about as close as you
can get to an accurate English description.

Naruto adds it to the _da_ above. _Datteba_ is something you might hear
occasionally in other contexts. To me, this more often sounds frustrated than
emphatic, but it could be used either way.

Finally, the _yo_ (よ) is a sentence-ending particle. It can be appended to the
end of a sentence when the speaker is informing the listener of something or
making an assertion. It might be translated in some contexts as "you see" or
"you know". It's not necessarily impolite but it could be used in impolite
speech. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_particles#yo) has
some other contexts where this could be used.

Putting all these together gives _dattebayo_. It's meaningless and not
entirely grammatical, but it puts a lot of emphasis on what he is saying. One
might compare it qualitatively in English to using multiple superlatives, e.g.
"I'm the most bestest ninja ever" in terms of how it would come across. It
isn't actually equivalent to this, but Japanese speakers hearing it would get
a similar impression in terms of the manner of speech.

I'll note that while _dattebayo_ is most definitely invented for this
character, it's somewhat equivalent to _dazo_ (だぞ). _Dazo_ is not childish-
sounding (compared to _dattebayo_ ), and is mostly used by men. However, it is
still quite impolite, all things considered, and puts a strong emphasis on a
statement. There's also the more forceful _daze_ (だぜ), but _dazo_ has somewhat
of a more positive tone.




_Dattebayo_ (だってばよ) is not really proper Japanese, but you can sort of see how
it would come about linguistically as a sentence-ending phrase. It's very
impolite, somewhat childish, and basically just combines different ways of
putting emphasis on the statement in a not terribly meaningful way.

First, the _da_ (だ) is a standard way to end a sentence (copula) in Japanese.
Depending on the construction of the sentence, some sentences will end with
_da_ while others end with a dictionary form verb. It should be emphasized
that using this would not be considered polite. The polite version of _da_ is
_desu_ (です).
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language#Inflection_and_conjugation)
has some more information on copula verbs and verb conjugations in Japanese.

Next, _tteba_ (ってば) is sort of a set expression/phrase which adds emphasis.
This is a shortened (and hence less polite) version of _tteieba_ (っていえば). It
can be attached to a noun, in which case it would be translated roughly as
"speaking of" in many contexts. In other contexts it could be interpreted
(somewhat rudely) as "I'm talking to you" or "listen to me". You might use it
with a person's name to attract their attention in this way. It's roughly
equivalent to _ttara_ (ったら) but this latter one is more commonly used by
females. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_particles#tteba)
calls it a "strong emphasis marker" which is probably about as close as you
can get to an accurate English description.

Naruto adds it to the _da_ above. _Datteba_ is something you might hear
occasionally in other contexts. To me, this more often sounds frustrated than
emphatic, but it could be used either way.

Finally, the _yo_ (よ) is a sentence-ending particle. It can be appended to the
end of a sentence when the speaker is informing the listener of something or
making an assertion. It might be translated in some contexts as "you see" or
"you know". It's not necessarily impolite but it could be used in impolite
speech. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_particles#yo) has
some other contexts where this could be used.

Putting all these together gives _dattebayo_. It's meaningless and not
entirely grammatical, but it puts a lot of emphasis on what he is saying. One
might compare it qualitatively in English to using multiple superlatives, e.g.
"I'm the most bestest ninja ever" in terms of how it would come across. It
isn't actually equivalent to this, but Japanese speakers hearing it would get
a similar impression in terms of the manner of speech.

I'll note that while _dattebayo_ is most definitely invented for this
character, it's somewhat equivalent to _dazo_ (だぞ). _Dazo_ is not childish-
sounding (compared to _dattebayo_ ), and is mostly used by men. However, it is
still quite impolite, all things considered, and puts a strong emphasis on a
statement. There's also the more forceful _daze_ (だぜ), but _dazo_ has somewhat
of a more positive tone.

