但し

ただし · tadashi · JLPT N2 · conjunction

provided that

但し = 但 (only, merely) + し; 'tada-shi' means 'only, but'

但 means 'only' or 'merely', so 但し adds a catch: 'however' or 'provided that'. It introduces an exception or condition right after a statement.

但 — person radical 亻 + dawn 旦
A semantic-phonetic compound: 亻 (person) gives the meaning side and 旦 (dawn) supplies the sound. Originally it depicted a person baring the shoulder, an old sense preserved in 袒. Over time 但 was borrowed to write the function word meaning 'only' and later 'but'.

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