the original meaning of さようなら

**You can make the sentence completely different in order to make it sound more natural

the original meaning of さようなら
In English, I think you People say goodbye without thinking of its original meaning.
Goodbye used to be "God by ye" in old English as far as I remember.
Ye is you, so it means "May God be with you".

In Japan, さようなら is also used without its original meaning.
さようなら is originally 然様なら/左様なら.
Which means "そういうことならば", (if it should be so) in modern Japanese.

So long long ago, people used さようなら in the case they have to take apart (do you mean separate or part ways?) because of the things they can't change. So, さようなら is originally a sentence for "そういうことならば（しかたない）", If it should be so, (we are destined to take apart ways.)"

I can't read this word without being feeling interested. It exemplifies the Japanese way of thinking. In Japan, there are many disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis and so on. Then so, the Japanese in the old times also in the until nowadays had to learn this way of thinking.

Hey Rioko,

Your journal entry was really interesting. I think it's fascinating that you take interest in word origins (etymology). Word origins are important because they show give insight as to how people think and how people thought about words. Keep up the entries Rioko, you're doing well!