どなた

どなた · donata · JLPT N5 · noun

world health organization

Polite who: do-nata, the courteous upgrade of dare

Etymology: do is the question root (as in dore, doko, dochira) and nata is an old direction word, so it once meant which way. Pointing at a direction instead of a person is the polite, indirect way to ask who.

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