魚心あれば水心あり: what does 心 do exactly?


According to
[JapanDict](http://www.japandict.com/%E9%AD%9A%E5%BF%83%E3%81%82%E3%82%8C%E3%81%B0%E6%B0%B4%E5%BF%83%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A),
this proverb literally means "if a fish is friendly toward water, water will
be kind to the fish too" (although
[Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%AD%9A%E5%BF%83%E3%81%82%E3%82%8C%E3%81%B0%E6%B0%B4%E5%BF%83%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A)
says it's the other way around...). Is that really a literal translation? If
it is, then where does this idea of friendliness come from? Do you get "a
caring fish" by putting 魚 and 心 together? Can you do the same with other
living creatures? Or does 魚心 only make sense when we look at the full phrase?
Is it perhaps something like "when there is a fish with a (kind) heart, there
is also water with a (kind) heart"?

Whatever the literal meaning is, is it obvious to a native speaker when they
hear the proverb for the first time? Or do they need some mental effort to
figure out how 心 works here?

Then there is stuff like 乙女心... Does it have any relation to this?




Well, ... if anything, since the -心【ごころ】 is productive i.e. can attach to
everything, you can make a word like 魚心 that means "fish mindset" or "fish
sentiment", but it still doesn't make sense.

The truth is inside dictionaries:

> **うお‐ごころ〔うを‐〕【魚心】**  
>
> 《「魚、心あれば」が誤って一語になったもの》相手に対する好意。（[デジタル大辞泉](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/17908/meaning/m0u/)）
>
> **うお‐ごころ［うを：］ 【魚心】**  
>  「うおごころ（魚心）あれば水心」によった語。「魚、心あれば」を誤って「うおごころ」と一語にしたもの。（日本国語大辞典）

So, it was actually a misreading! The correct reading was 「魚【うお】 (pause)
心【こころ】あれば、水【みず】 (pause) 心【こころ】あり」, and
[心ある](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/78092/meaning/m0u/) means "be
considerate, compassionate", here is no more mystery.

This kind of phenomenon is called
"[rebracketing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing)", and observable
in any language. For example, English _orange_ used to be _norange_ , but at
some time they took it as "an orange".




Well, ... if anything, since the -心【ごころ】 is productive i.e. can attach to
everything, you can make a word like 魚心 that means "fish mindset" or "fish
sentiment", but it still doesn't make sense.

The truth is inside dictionaries:

> **うお‐ごころ〔うを‐〕【魚心】**  
>
> 《「魚、心あれば」が誤って一語になったもの》相手に対する好意。（[デジタル大辞泉](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/17908/meaning/m0u/)）
>
> **うお‐ごころ［うを：］ 【魚心】**  
>  「うおごころ（魚心）あれば水心」によった語。「魚、心あれば」を誤って「うおごころ」と一語にしたもの。（日本国語大辞典）

So, it was actually a misreading! The correct reading was 「魚【うお】 (pause)
心【こころ】あれば、水【みず】 (pause) 心【こころ】あり」, and
[心ある](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/78092/meaning/m0u/) means "be
considerate, compassionate", here is no more mystery.

This kind of phenomenon is called
"[rebracketing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing)", and observable
in any language. For example, English _orange_ used to be _norange_ , but at
some time they took it as "an orange".

