Continuing our topic, I will introduce the last two vocabularies about wife: 家内(かない) and かみさん.
家内(かない)
家内(かない) used to mean “inside the house”. However, interestingly, a huge “revolution” happened to this word in 明治時代(めいじじだい, 1868 – 1912). During that period, Japan had gradually transformed to have the same social system as western countries. Then, it turned out that men go to work in offices and women become full-time housewives. As a result, this kind of family has been increasing by a huge number. Therefore, a wife became the person who stays at home, eventually, it turned out to be家内(かない).
However, it is common that a female has a job at present time. Therefore, calling your wife “家内(かない)” is relatively not appropriate.
かみさん
Original かみさん is 上様 (かみさま), the people who are superior to you. Thus, かみさん is not appropriate for the wife who has an equal relationship with the husband.
I hope you have enjoyed the history of different words of wives. See you next week!