Classical Japanese language

The classical Japanese language(文語 bungo, "literary language"), also called "old writing" (古文 kobun), is the literary form of the
Japanese language that was the standard until the early Shōwa period (1926–89). It is based on Early Middle Japanese, the language as
spoken during the Heian period (794–1185), but exhibits some later influences. Its use started to decline during the late Meiji period
(1868–1912) when novelists started writing their works in the spoken form. Eventually, the spoken style came into widespread use,
including in major newspapers, but many official documents were still written in the old style. After the end of World War II because
of the surrender of Japan, most documents switched to the spoken style, although the classical style continues to be used in traditional
genres, such as haiku and waka. Old laws are also left in the classical style unless fully revised.

Contents
Orthography
Old character forms (旧字体 Kyūjitai)
Historical kana usage (歴史的仮名遣 Rekishi-teki kana-zukai)
H-Row (ハ行 Ha-gyō) rule
W-row (ワ行 Wa-gyō) rule
D-row (ダ行 Da-gyō) rule
Y-row (ヤ行 Ya-gyō) rule
Geminate (促音 Sokuon) rule
Labialized consonant (合拗音 Gōyōon) rule
Long vowel (長音 Chōon) rule
Palatalized long vowel (開拗長音 Kaiyōchōon) rule
Classical auxiliary verbむ (mu) rule
Miscellaneous
Grammar
Verbs (動詞 Doushi)
Conjugation table
Table notes
Verb class distribution
Table notes
Adjectives (形容詞 Keiyoushi)
Table notes
Adjectival verbs (形容動詞 Keiyou doushi)
Table notes
Miscellaneous

See also
External links

Orthography
Classical Japanese is written in an orthography that differs from modern Japanese in two major ways. These are the usage of old
character forms (旧字体 Kyūjitai) and historical kana usage (歴史的仮名遣 Rekishi-teki kana-zukai).

Old character forms (旧字体 Kyūjitai)

Old character forms are the forms of Chinese characters (漢字 Kanji) used in Japan prior to the post-World War II spelling reforms in
that country. The modern, simplified characters are callednew character forms (新字体 Shinjitai).

A few examples follow, with the old characters on the left and the new characters on the right (pronunciations are the most common
Japanese pronunciation of the character in isolation, and translations are glosses for that pronunciation):

體 → 体 (karada "body")
舊 → 旧 (kyū "old times")
當 → 当 (tō- "this-")
與 → 与 (ata-eru "give something")
變 → 変 (hen "strange")
靜 → 静 (shizuka "peaceful")
爲 → 為 (tame "reason")
眞 → 真 (makoto "truth")
In cases like that of the first two, the entire original character has essentially been replaced by a new one, independent of the original's
etymology. This type, however, is relatively rare. Another approach is to essentially replace the character with a piece of it, sometimes
slightly altered, as in the third and fourth characters. Finally, probably the most common type of simplification is to change one
component of the character to reduce the number of strokes and/or make it easier to write, a strategy exemplified by the fifth and sixth
examples. Note that, as in the case of the sixth character
, the simplification may be very subtle.

In general, old character forms are identical to their traditional Chinese counterparts, but there are some exceptions. For the seventh
example character, the traditional and simplified Japanese versions coexisted as different forms of the same traditional character in
China, while in Japan, what is now the new character form was at that time considered a variant and rarely used. And in a few cases,
like that of the eighth character, the old character form has always been considered a rare variant inChina.

Historical kana usage (歴史的仮名遣 Rekishi-teki kana-zukai)

Historical kana usage is the system of kana (i.e., phonetic character) writing used in Japan prior to the post-war reforms. More
specifically, it is the version of kana orthography standardized in the Meiji Period (since before that time kana usage was not
standardized). It is, broadly speaking, based on the pronunciation of Japanese in the Heian Period, the time-frame in which Early
Middle Japanese (on which the grammar of classical Japanese is based) was spoken. There are several differences between historical
kana usage — which is also referred to as "old kana usage" (旧仮名遣 Kyū kana-zukai) — and the modern kana orthography, called
"modern kana usage" (現代仮名遣 Gendai kana-zukai) or "new kana usage" (新仮名遣 Shin kana-zukai). Some of these differences
apply primarily to Sino-Japanese readingsof Chinese characters, while others apply primarily to native Japanese words, and still others
apply equally to both groups of words.

Broadly speaking, the differences are:

H-Row (ハ行 Ha-gyō) rule

Some morpheme-medial sounds currently written asわ/ワ, い/イ, う/ウ, え/エ, and お/オ (wa, i, u, e, and o) were
written as は/ハ, ひ/ヒ, ふ/フ, へ/ヘ, and ほ/ホ (ha, hi, fu, he, and ho), respectively. This is because these sounds(as
well as all sounds still written withは/ハ, ひ/ヒ, ふ/フ, へ/ヘ, and ほ/ホ) originally had initial consonant/p/ in Old
Japanese, which then changed to/ɸ/ in Early Middle Japanese, and then, inLate Middle Japanese, split one of five
different phonemes depending on whether itoccurred morpheme-initially or morpheme-medially , and then further
depending on the following vowel. Morpheme-initially and before/a/, /e/, or /o/, it became /h/; before /i/, it became /ç/;
and before /u/, it became /ɸ/; these three sounds are still written withは/ハ, ひ/ヒ, ふ/フ, へ/ヘ, and ほ/ホ. Morpheme-
medially and before /a/, /i/, /e/, or /o/, it became /w/; before /u/, it lost its consonant. Finally, later on in the same period
of the language the initial/w/ was lost in all instances before/i/, /e/, and /o/ (note that */wu/ never existed), leaving the
current morpheme-medial pronunciations of/wa/, /i/, /u/, /e/, and /o/, but the spellings of /ha/, /hi/, /fu/, /he/, and /ho/
(which, is this context, are probably better thought of as/pa/, /pi/, /pu/, /pe/, and /po/; or /fa/, /fi/, /fu/, /fe/, and /fo/). This
rule primarily applies to native Japanese morphemes, although it is crucial to the mechanics of the long vowel rule that
applies primarily to Sino-Japanese words, which is elaborated upon below. The usage of は (ha) and へ (he) to
represent grammatical particles pronounced as if writtenわ (wa) and え (e), respectively, is a holdover from this rule.
Some examples follow (old spellings are on the left, new spellings on the right; kana in parenthesis represent the pronunciation of the
preceding character):

幸せ (しあはせ) → 幸せ (しあわせ) (shiahase → shiawase "happiness")

小さし (ちひさし) → 小さし (ちいさし) (chihisa-shi → chiisa-shi "small") (note that this is the classical form of小さい
(ちひさい) chihisa-i; 小さい (ちいさい) chiisa-i)
合ふ (あふ) → 合う (あう) (af-u → a-u "merge") (note that every quadrigrade verb that currently ends inう u once
ended in ふ fu)
前 (まへ) → 前 (まえ) (mahe → mae "front")
炎 (ほのほ) → 炎 (ほのお) (honoho → honō "blaze")
There are some exceptions to this sound change, although they are rare. They include 母 (はは) (haha "mother", expected form はわ
hawa), 頬 (ほほ) (hoho "cheek", expected formほお hō), 家鴨 (あひる) (ahiru "domestic duck", expected form あいる airu), and 溢
れる (あふれる) (afure-ru "overflow", expected form あおれる aore-ru or おうれる ōre-ru; the reasons for this different result will
be explained by another rule below). Sometimes, as in the case of the first two exceptions, the sound change form exists, usually with a
slightly different meaning (はわ hawa is a hyper-formal and very respectful term for mother) or is used in different contexts (ほお hō
is generally used in isolation, whileほほ hoho is generally used in compounds). In other cases, as is true of the second two exceptions,
the unchanged form is the only one that exists. In addition to these exceptions, some dialects may preserve these sounds as they were at
any stage of the language.

W-row (ワ行 Wa-gyō) rule

This section uses Nihon-shiki romanization for ゐ, ゑ, and を.

The obsolete charactersゐ/ヰ (wi) and ゑ/ヱ (we) are used, and the characterを/ヲ (wo) is used in other words
besides as the accusative or oblique case marker . This relates to the above rule, in that it reflects a pronunciation with
initial /w/ before /i/, /e/, and /o/ that is no longer present in the modern language. This rule applies equally to native
and Sino-Japanese words. The use ofを (wo) to write the aforementioned grammatical particle, which is pronounced
お (o) in modern Japanese (unless preceded byん n or sometimes in song, althoughall morpheme-medial instances
of /o/, whether originally お, を, or ほ, tend to become /wo/ in song), is a holdover from this rule.
Some examples:

Native Japanese words

居る (ゐる) → 居る (いる) (wi-ru → i-ru "to be [animate objects]")

聲 (こゑ) → 声 (こえ) (kowe → koe "voice") (notice that an old character is also involved in this example)
男 (をとこ) → 男 (おとこ) (wotoko → otoko "male")
Sino-Japanese words

役員 (やくゐん) → 役員 (やくいん) (yakuwin → yakuin "officer")

圓 (ゑん) → 円 (えん) (wen → en "Yen") (again, there is an old character usedhere)
家屋 (かをく) → 家屋 (かおく) (kawoku → kaoku "house")
There are no known exceptions (besides the aforementioned ones regarding を wo) in standard Japanese, and no dialects preserve the
distinction between /wi/ and /i/, /we/ and /e/, and/or /wo/ and /o/, but some of the Ryukyuan languages (which are also descended from
Proto-Japonic) do.

D-row (ダ行 Da-gyō) rule

This section uses Nihon-shiki romanization for じ, ず, ぢ, づ.

The characters ぢ/ヂ (di) and づ/ヅ (du) are used in places other than changes caused bysequential voicing (連濁
Rendaku), where in modern kanaじ (ji) and ず (zu), respectively, would be used. Again, this represents a former
phonetic distinction, namely between a sound/z/ (in じ ji and ず zu) and a sound /d/ (in ぢ di and づ du). This rule
applies equally to native and Sino-Japanese words, as well as a fewloanwords (外来語 Gairaigo).
Some examples:

Native words

紫陽花 (あぢさゐ) → 紫陽花 (あじさい) (adisawi → azisai "hydrangea") (notice that this example also contains a
change from ゐ wi to い i)
水 (みづ) → 水 (みず) (midu → mizu "water")
Sino-Japanese words

解除 (かいぢよ) → 解除 (かいじょ) (kaidiyo → kaizyo "release") (notice the use of Y-row rule, explained below)
地圖 (ちづ) → 地図 (ちず) (chidu → chizu "map") (notice again that an old character form is involved)
Loanwords

ラヂオ → ラジオ (radio → razio "radio") (this one is especially notable because it is an exceedingly rare example of a
sound change that occurs in a loanword from English)
There are no known exceptions in standard Japanese pronunciation, although there are many dialects (such as the Tosa dialect) that
preserve the distinction between historical /z/ and /d/ in speech, usually by using /ʑi/ and /zu/ for historical /z/ and /d͡ʑi/ and /d͡zu/ for
historical /d/ (see Yotsugana). In writing, the distinction is preserved in single morphemes in cases where a sequence ちぢ (chidi) or つ
づ (tsudu) was historically produced by rendaku (such as in 縮 む ( ち ぢむ) chidim-u, "shorten", and 続 く ( つ づ く ) tsuduk-u,
"continue", pronounced as if ちじむ chizim-u and つずく tsuzuk-u, respectively), or in compounds where a phonemic /ti/ or /tu/ has
been voiced to /zi/ or /zu/ (such as in 身近 (みぢか) mi-dika "one's surroundings" and仮名遣 (かなづかい) kana-dukai "kana usage",
pronounced as if みじか mi-zika and かなずかい kana-zukai, respectively). This usage is a holdover from this rule.

Y-row (ヤ行 Ya-gyō) rule

In modern Japanese, the small kana ゃ/ャ, ゅ/ュ, and ょ/ョ (ya, yu, and yo) are used to indicate palatalized consonants (拗音 Yōon)
when followed by an I-coloumn (イ段 I-dan) kana of the K-, G-, N-, B-, P-, M-, or R-rows カ～,
( ガ～, ナ～, バ～, パ～, マ～, ラ行;
Ka-, Ga-, Na-, Ba-, Pa-, Ma-, Ra-gyō). For example:

客 (きゃく) (kyaku "guest")

ぎゅぎゅ (gyugyu "snoringly")
如実 (にょじつ) (nyojitsu "reality")
白檀 (びゃくだん) (byakudan "sandalwood")
ぴょこぴょこ (pyokopyoko "up and down")
山脈 (さんみゃく) (sanmyaku "mountain range")
略 (りゃく) (ryaku "abbreviation")
-, D-, or H-rows (サ～, ザ～, タ～, ダ～, ハ行; Sa-,
When a small Y-row (ヤ行 Ya-gyō) kana follows an I-column kana of the S-, Z-, T
Za-, Ta-, Da-, Ha-gyō), the preceding consonant is changed:

食 (しょく) (shoku "meal")

樹立 (じゅりつ) (juritsu "establish")
茶 (ちゃ) (cha "tea")
～中 (ぢゅう) (-jū "throughout [suffix]") (note that, as noted above, ぢゃ ja, ぢゅ ju, and ぢょ jo only occur in modern
Japanese writing when a sequenceちゃ cha, ちゅ chu, or ちょ cho is sequentially voiced, as in this example, and the
pronunciation is identical toじゃ ja, じゅ ju, and じょ jo)
百 (ひゃく) (hyaku "hundred") (note that the sequence/hj/ is pronounced /ç/ as noted above, but this difference is not
reflected in any mainstream Japanese romanization system)
These three kana cannot follow A-row ア
( 行 A-gyō) or W-row (ワ行 Wa-gyō) kana in this way.

In historical kana, all of these examples are written with large kana や/ヤ, ゆ/ユ, and よ/ヨ (ya, yu, and yo). So the previous examples
would be written:

客 (きやく) (written kiyaku, but pronounced kyaku)

 ぎゆゞゝ (written giyugiyu, but pronounced gyugyu) (note the use of multiple iteration marks here, explained below)
如實 (によじつ) (written niyojitsu, but pronounced nyojitsu) (note the presence of an old character form here)
白檀 (びやくだん) (written biyaku, but pronounced byaku)
ぴよこゝゝゝ (written piyokopiyoko, but pronounced pyokopyoko) (again, multiple iteration marks are used here)
山脈 (さんみやく) (written sanmiyaku, but pronounced sanmyaku)
略 (りやく) (written riyaku, but pronounced ryaku)
食 (しよく) (written shiyoku, but pronounced shoku)
樹立 (じゆりつ) (written jiyuritsu, but pronounced juritsu)
茶 (ちや) (written chiya, but pronounced cha)
～中 (ぢゆう) (written -jiyū, but pronounced -jū)
百 (ひやく) (written hiyaku, but pronounced hyaku)
This is the only historical kana rule that does not reflect a historical pronunciation. It is also one of only two rules (along with the
geminate rule) that create ambiguity for the reader (excluding the exceptions listed above for the H-row rule). For instance, the
aforementioned word 客 (kyaku) is not differentiated in historical kana from the word 規約 (kiyaku "agreement") when written in
historical kana: both are writtenきやく (kiyaku).

Geminate (促音 Sokuon) rule

The other use of small kana in modern Japanese is in the geminate consonant mark (促音 Sokuon), っ/ッ, which is a small version of
つ/ツ (tsu). In native Japanese words, this symbol can be used before kana of the K-, S-,-,Tand P-rows. For example,

かっか (kakka "burning hotly")

真っ直ぐ (まっすぐ) (massugu "direct")
屹度 (きっと) (kitto "surely")
葉っぱ (はっぱ) (happa "leaf")
Voiced geminates are generally prohibited by Japanese phonological rules, but they occur in a few loanwords (although they are
sometimes pronounced by native speakers as if they were their voiceless counterparts). For example:

スラッガー (suraggā "slugger")

キッド (kiddo "kid")
Kana of the N- and M-rows can also be geminate, but they are preceded byん (n) to indicate gemination instead.

Gemination can occur in Japanese for a variety of reasons. In native words, it occurs either when a historical long vowel elides, as in
the aforementioned 真っ直ぐ (massugu, originally まあすぐ maasugu), or randomly, as in the aforementioned 屹度 (kitto, originally
きと kito). These examples of the geminate consonant marker, along with those found in loanwords, are written with large つ (tsu) in
historical kana. Therefore,

かつか (written katsuka, but pronounced kakka)

真つ直ぐ (まつすぐ) (written matsusugu, but pronounced massugu)
屹度 (きつと) (written kitsuto, but pronounced kitto)
葉つぱ (はつぱ) (written hatsupa, but pronounced happa)
スラツガー (written suratsugā, but pronounced suraggā)
キツド (written kitsudo, but pronounced kiddo)
In these cases, the historical usage is not reflecting any historical pronunciation. However, in Sino-Japanese words, geminate
consonants are produced by different, more regular processes, and the historical usage for these words reflects historical
pronunciations.

The most common way for geminates to be produced in Sino-Japanese words is by the elision of a vowel from the kana き, く, ち, or
つ (ki, ku, chi, or tsu). For example:

適格 (てっかく) (tekkaku "eligible", from teki + kaku)

学期 (がっき) (gakki "semester", from gaku + ki)
 日程 (にってい) (nittei "schedule", from nichi + tei)
雑誌 (ざっし) (zasshi "magazine", from zatsu + shi)
In historical kana, where the geminate mark is used in the first, second, and fourth examples, a full-sized version of the original kana is
used. However, in the third example, つ (tsu) is used, even though an /i/ has been elided. The reason for this is that in Early Middle
Japanese, when these sounds were borrowed from Middle Chinese, the Japanese language acquired a final /t/ in the Sino-Japanese
morphemes that currently end in ち (chi, /ti/) or つ (tsu, /tu/). Later on, these acquired two forms, one with /i/ and one with /u/
(although in syllables beginning with/ni/, one form usually begins with/zi/, as is the case with 日). So the semantic difference between
Sino-Japanese syllables ending in /ti/ or /tu/ is almost always trivial, and the historical pronunciation was identical, so they were not
distinguished in writing. Therefore, the previous examples would be written:

適格 (てきかく) (tekikaku)
學期 (がくき) (gakuki) (note the old character form)
日程 (につてい) (nitsutei)
雜誌 (ざつし) (zatsusi) (note the old character form)
Occasionally, gemination may also result from a loss of a vowel afterふ (fu, originally /pu/). These cases are complicated by the H-row
rule, and perhaps because of that, are also written withつ in historical kana. For example,

法師 (ほっし) (hosshi "Buddhist priest", fromhofu + shi)

is written

法師 (ほつし) (hotsushi)
in historical kana.

While this usage does reflect a historical pronunciation, it, like the Y-row rule, produces ambiguity. Furthermore, since these vowels
are elided in some compounds but not others, this usage obscures the dif
ference in a way that is essentially impossible to predict.

While there are a few other processes that can cause geminates in Sino-Japanese words, they all apply to N- and M-row kana, and are
not written differently in historical and modern kana.

Labialized consonant (合拗音 Gōyōon) rule

Starting in Early Middle Japanese, as more and more Chinese characters were borrowed into Japanese, the language acquired
consonants fronted with glides. Those fronted with the palatal glide are described in the Y-row rule, but Early Middle Japanese also
introduced consonants fronted with labial glides (i.e., CwV). These were far more limited in range than their palatal counterparts,
however, affecting only the K- and G- rows. instead of /a/, /u/, and /o/ for the vowels of onset, like the palatal glides, the vowels of
onset for the labial glides were /a/, /i/, and /e/, and used the kana わ, ゐ, and ゑ (wa, wi, and we). Finally, while the palatal glides are
written with an I-column kana, the labial glides are written with a U-column (ウ段 U-dan) kana. However, when historical kana was
standardized in the Meiji Period, only the syllables with historical /wa/ were indicated. Nevertheless, some classical texts may indicate
the other differences, and some resources will refer to them, so it is useful to be familiar with them. This rule applies exclusively to
Sino-Japanese words. Some examples:

くわ (written kuwa, but pronounced kwa) and ぐわ (written guwa, but pronounced gwa) (indicated in standard historical kana)

菓子 (くわし) → 菓子 (かし) (kwashi → kashi "sweets")

元旦 (ぐわんたん) → 元旦 (がんたん) (gwantan → gantan "New Year's Day")
くゐ (written kuwi, but pronounced kwi), ぐゐ (written guwi, but pronounced gwi), くゑ (written kuwe, but pronounced kwe),
and ぐゑ (written guwe but pronounced gwe) (not indicated in standard historical kana)

歸省 (くゐせい) → 帰省 (きせい) (kwisei → kisei "homecoming") (note the old character form)
僞善 (ぐゐぜん) → 偽善 (ぎぜん) (gwizen → gizen "hypocrisy") (note the old character form)
番犬 (ばんくゑん) → 番犬 (ばんけん) (bankwen → banken "watchdog")
同月 (どうぐゑつ) → 同月 (どうげつ) (dougwetsu → dougetsu "same month")
Labialized consonants sometimes occur in modern loanwords, and they are generally dealt with in one of two ways. Firstly, the
labialized consonant may be changed from a sequence/CwV/ to a sequence /CuwV/, both in writing and in speech. For example,

クイック (kuiku "quick", from English "quick" with original/kw/)

In other cases, they may be indicated with a U-column kana followed by a small A-row kana, indicating a labialized consonant. For
example,

クィーン (kwīn "queen", from English "queen" with original/kw/)

However, in these cases, an alternate version with large A-row kana generally exists (as it does in this case), indicating a monophthong
pronunciation, and many speakers use the monophthong pronunciation regardless of how it is written.

There are no known exceptions to this rule, but some dialects (such as theKagoshima dialect) preserve the distinction.

Long vowel (長音 Chōon) rule

Palatalized long vowel (開拗長音 Kaiyōchōon) rule

Classical auxiliary verbむ (mu) rule

Modern Japanese has the syllabic nasal ん (n), which can represent a variety of sounds depending on what sounds come before and
after it. Syllable final nasals are believed by many scholars to have existed in Proto-Japonic, but all agree that they were lost by the
time of Old Japanese. They first re-appeared in Early Middle Japanese, with the introduction of
Middle Chinese loanwords ending in -n
and -m. Therefore, the majority of occurrences of ん (n) in modern Japanese occur in Sino-Japanese vocabulary. Originally, syllabic n
and m were phonemically and phonologically distinct, although the distinction was never written down, and was lost by Early Modern
Japanese. For example,

漢字 (かんじ) (kanzi, from Middle ChinesehɑnHd͡zɨH)

音樂 (おんがく) (ongaku, from Middle Chineseʔiɪmŋˠʌk̚; originally pronouncedomgaku) (note the old character form)

However, some native Japanese words also have ん (n). This happens exceedingly rarely, and usually results from sound elision. An
exhaustive list of all examples of all regular use characters ( Jōyō Kanji), the 2,136 characters and readings used in government
documents and taught in schools, with syllabic nasal in their native Japanese readings numbers only 13 (14 readings), or 0.61%. They
are

From the elision of a vowel following /m/ or /n/

何 (なん) (nan "what"), from なに (nani "what")

女 (をんな) (wonna "woman"), originally pronouncedwomna; from をみな (womina "woman") (in modern orthography,
おんな and onna おみな omina )
懇ろ (ねんごろ) (nengoro "courteous"), originally pronouncednemkoro'; from ねもころ (nemokoro "courteous")
神 (かん) (kan' "god" in some compounds), originally pronouncedkam; from かみ (kami "god") (in modern
orthography, 神, using a new character form)
From the elision of a full mora

冠 (かんむり) (kanmuri "crown"), from かうぶり (kauburi "rank"); note also the sound change from/b/ to /m/ (in
modern orthography, かうぶり kauburi is こうぶり kōburi)
考ふ (かんがふ) (kangaf-u "consider"), from かうがふ (kaugaf-u "consider"); note that these are the classical versions
of the modern verbs 考へる (かんがへる) (kangahe-ru) and 考へる (かうがへる) (kaugahe-ru), respectively (in modern
orthography, かんがう kangae-ru, こうがう kōga-u, かんがえる kangae-ru, and こうがえる kōgae-ru, respectively)
問 (とん) (ton' "wholesale" in the compound問屋 ton'ya "wholesale store"), fromとひ (tohi "query") (in modern
orthography, とひ tohi is とい toi)
盛ん (さかん) (sakan "prosperous"), from さかり (sakari "one's best days")
 芳し (かんばし) (kanba-shi "fragrant"), from かぐはし (kaguha-si "fragrant"); note also the sequential voicing of/h/ to
/b/, and that these are the classical forms of the adjectives芳しい (かんばしい) (kanba-shii) and 芳しい (かぐはしい)
(kaguha-shii) (in modern orthography, かぐはし kaguha-shi is かぐわし kaguwa-shi and かぐはしい kaguha-shii is か
ぐわしい kaguwa-shii)
From the preservation of an Old Japanese pre-nasalized consonant in a modern Japanese word

鑑みる (かんがみる) (kangami-ru "learn from"), from かゞみる (kagami-ru "learn from") (in modern orthography, かゞ
みる kagami-ru is かがみる kagami-ru, without iteration marks)
丼 (どんぶり) (donburi "porcelain bowl"), fromどぶり (doburi "[sound symbolism for something big and soft plopping
down]")
From abbreviation of another pronunciation on this list

丼 (どん) (don "porcelain bowl"), originally pronounceddom; from aforementionedどんぶり (donburi "porcelain bowl")
From multiple processes

御 (おん) (on "[honorific prefix]"), originally pronouncedom; from 大 (おほ) (oho "great") + 御 (み) (mi "august"), which
became 大御 (おほみ) (ohomi "august"), and then 御 (おほん) by elision of /i/ after /m/, and finally 御 (おん) (on) by
elision of the full mora /ho/; note the use of the character御 instead of 大御 is ateji (in modern orthography, おほ oho
is おお ō, おほみ ohomi is おおみ ōmi, and おほん ohon is おおん ōn)
From some semantic (rather than phonetic) process

四 (よん) (yon "four"), from よ (yo "four) by analogy with Sino-Japanese三 (さん) (san "three", originally pronounced
sam)
Of course, there are also some words with this sound that either lack Chinese characters or were coined in the modern or Early Modern
Japanese eras, when ん (n) had been fully incorporated into the language. For example,

さん (san' "[all-purpose honorific]"), originally pronouncedsam; from 樣 (さま) (sama "[respectful honorific]") (in
modern orthography, the new character form様 is used)
Regardless of how it came to be, the Japanese orthography lacked the character ん / ン (n) or any equivalent. Therefore, until the
spelling reforms of 1900, む/ム (mu) was generally used to represent the syllabic nasal. Sometimes, this convention may be preserved
by modern writers, but standard historical kana distinguishesむ (mu) from ん (n).

There is one exception. In classical Japanese, there is an auxiliary verb (助動詞 jodōshi) む (mu) which indicated the volitional. It, too,
underwent vowel elision, and came to be pronounced as /m/ and then /n/. However, the conventions of standard historical kana call for
this auxiliary verb (and any word derived from it) to be written withむ (mu) even though they are pronounced asん (n).

Since む (mu) is non-existent in modern Japanese, there are no dialects that preserve the distinction expressed in this rule. However,
some may preserve the distinction between final/m/ and /n/.

Miscellaneous
Two other significant differences involve the way that kana are used in general, rather than which kana are used. The first is that
Chinese characters in classical texts are often fully marked with ruby text (振り仮名 Furigana), especially in old laws and other very
important documents. Ruby text is still widely used in modern Japanese, but only for characters with non-standard or ambiguous
pronunciations, or sometimes in materials designed for children or foreigners. The second difference is that, especially in legal
documents, Katakana were often used in the way that Hiragana are used in modern Japanese, to write out adjective and verb
inflections, suffixes, and particles (送り仮名 Okurigana), and for the aforementioned ruby text.

Finally, kana iteration marks were far more common in classical Japanese, and sometimes used in ways that are considered completely
obsolete in modern Japanese.

For an example of a major document written in the classical style, see as an example the original text of the 1890 Meiji Constitution,
which is written in classical Japanese using historical kana, old character forms, kana iteration marks, and Katakana in place of
Hiragana (although it lacks universal ruby text).
Grammar

Verbs (動詞 Doushi)

Conjugation table
Classical Japanese has the following verb classes and stem forms:

未然形 連用形 終止形 連体形 已然形 命令形

活用 (Katsuyō
(Mizenkei (Ren'yōkei (Shūshikei (Rentaikei (Izenkei (Meireikei
"Conjugation
"Irrealis "Continuitive "Conclusive "Attributive "Realis "Imperative
class")
form") form") form") form") form") form")

四段 (Yodan
～あ (-a) ～い (-i) ～う (-u) ～う (-u) ～え (-e) ～え (-e)
"Quadrigrade")

上二段 (Kami
～うれ (- い～(よ) (i-
nidan "Upper い～ (i-) い～ (i-) ～う (-u) ～うる (-uru)
ure) [yo])
bigrade")

下二段 (Shimo
～うれ (- え～(よ) (e-
nidan "Lower え～ (e-) え～ (e-) ～う (-u) ～うる (-uru)
ure) [yo])
bigrade")

上一段 (Kami
い～れ (i- い～(よ) (i-
ichidan "Upper い～ (i-) い～ (i-) い～る (i-ru) い～る (i-ru)
re) [yo])
monograde")

下一段 (Shimo
え～れ (e- え～(よ) (e-
ichidan "Lower え～ (e-) え～ (e-) え～る (e-ru) え～る (e-ru)
re) [yo])
monograde")

カ行変格 (Ka-
～うれ (- ～お～(よ) (-
gyō henkaku "K- ～お (-o) ～い (-i) ～う (-u) ～うる (-uru)
ure) o[-yo])
irregular")

サ行変格 (Sa-
～うれ (- ～え～(よ) (-
gyō henkaku "S- ～え (-e) ～い (-i) ～う (-u) ～うる (-uru)
ure) e[-yo])
irregular")

ナ行変格 (Na-
～うれ (-
gyō henkaku "N- ～あ (-a) ～い (-i) ～う (-u) ～うる (-uru) ～え (-e)
ure)
irregular")

ラ行変格 (Ra-
gyō henkaku "R- ～あ (-a) ～い (-i) ～い (-i) ～う (-u) ～え (-e) ～え (-e)
irregular")

Table notes
The placement of the "-" (or "～" in the Japanese text) indicates where the stem of the vowel is. In other words, for a consonant-stem
verb (i.e., the quadrigrade and N- and R-irregular classes), the final vowel is not considered part of the verb's root, so it is separated.
However, for vowel-stem verbs (i.e., the upper and lower monograde and bigrade and K- ad S-irregular), the final vowel is considered
part of the stem, except in the forms beginning inう (u), because these reflect an ancient contraction of the final vowel of the verb with
that ending. The K- and S-irregular classes are also special in this regard, because they are believed to be derived from vowel-stem
verbs originally, but were subject to ancient contractions that caused them to lose their final vowel in all forms, and so their final
vowels are no longer considered part of their roots (and are thus separated from them), even though they are considered vowel-stem
verbs.

The よ (yo) at the end of the imperative forms of upper and lower monograde and bigrade verbs and of K- and S-irregular verbs is
optional in classical Japanese, although exceedingly common.
Verb class distribution
While the many conjugation classes may seem overwhelming, most of them contain few verbs. The quadrigrade and lower bigrade
classes are the primary, containing about 75% and 20% of the verbs in the language, respectively. The upper bigrade class is small
(about 56 non-compound verbs), but sizable enough to make an exhaustive list difficult. The other 6 classes all together contain
between 22 and 28 verbs, depending on whether basic compound verbs are included or not. An exhaustive list of these follows, which
verbs in the conclusive form, as is the most-common standard. Chinese character pronunciations are indicated by hiragana in
parentheses following the given character. The first spelling listed for a given verb is the most common, and those that follow are
alternate spellings. Some of these spellings are generally used for slightly different connotations of the same verb, while others are
simple alternatives. In later reference, only the first spelling (in pre-World War II orthography) will be used, and the transcription will
be based on the historical spelling. A blank cell in one (or both) of the "modern" columns indicates that the modern spelling and/or
transcription is the same as the pre-World War II version.
 Japanese Romanization (Pre- Romanization
Japanese (Pre-World
(Modern World War II (Modern Translation
War II orthography)
orthography) orthography) orthography)

上一段活用動詞 (Kami ichidan katsuyou doushi"Upper monograde conjugation class verbs")

着る (きる) Ki-ru To wear

似る (にる) Ni-ru To resemble

煮る (にる) Ni-ru To boil

嚏る (ひる) Hi-ru To sneeze

干る, 乾る (ひる) Hi-ru To dry

簸る (ひる) Hi-ru To winnow

廻る, 回る (みる) Mi-ru To go around

見る, 視る, 観る
見る, 視る, 觀る (みる) Mi-ru To see
(みる)

鑑みる (かゞみる) 鑑みる (かがみる) Kagami-ru To learn from

顧みる, 省みる (かへり 顧みる, 省みる (か

Kaherimi-ru Kaerimi-ru To reflect upon
みる) えりみる)

試みる (こころみ
試みる (こゝろみる) Kokoromi-ru To try
る)

To shoot (an
射る (いる) I-ru
arrow)
To douse (with
沃る (いる) I-ru
water)

鑄る (いる) 鋳る (いる) I-ru To cast (metal)

居る (ゐる) 居る (いる) Wi-ru I-ru To sit

To carry
率る, 將る (ゐる) 率る, 将る (いる) Wi-ru I-ru
(constantly)
To lead (an
率ゐる (ひきゐる) 率いる (ひきいる) Hikiwi-ru Hikii-ru
army)

用ゐる (もちゐる) 用いる (もちいる) Mochiwi-ru Mochii-ru To use

下一段活用動詞 (Shimo ichidan katsuyou doushi"Lower monograde conjugation class verbs")

蹴る (ける) Ke-ru To kick

カ行変格活用動詞 (Ka-gyō henkaku doushi"K-irregular verbs")

來 (く) 来 (く) K-u To come

サ行変格活用動詞 (Sa-gyō henkaku katsuyou doushi"S-irregular conjugation class verbs")

爲 (す) 為 (す) S-u To do

To be/go/come
御座す (おはす) 御座す (おわす) Ohas-u Owas-u
(honorific form)

ナ行変格活用動詞 (Na-gyō henkaku katsuyou doushi"N-irregular conjugation class verbs")

往ぬ, 去ぬ (いぬ) In-u To go away

死ぬ (しぬ) Shin-u To die

ラ行変格活用動詞 (Ra-gyō henkaku katsuyou doushi"R-irregular conjugation class verbs")

有り, 在り (あり) Ar-i To exist

 在すかり, 坐すかり (いますかり) Imasukar-i To exist
(honorific form)
To serve
侍り (はべり) Haber-i
(humble form)

居り (をり) 居り (おり) Wor-i Or-i To be

Table notes
Note that these translations are glosses, and may not reflect certain nuances or rare alternative meanings.

In addition, the translations are for the classical meaning of the verb, which may differ from the modern meaning of the verb if it has
survived into modern Japanese either slightly (e.g., 着る (きる) ki-ru, which meant "to wear [in general]" in classical Japanese, but
means "to wear [from the waist up]" in modern Japanese), or significantly (e.g., 居る (ゐる) wi-ru, which meant "to sit" in classical
Japanese, but primarily means "to be" (for animate objects) in modern Japanese). Some may have the same meaning, but a different
pronunciation (e.g., 鑑みる (かゞみる) kagami-ru "to learn from", which is generally pronounced and written 鑑みる (かんがみる)
kangami-ru in modern Japanese). Also, even for those verbs which have survived with the same meaning and form, many are archaic
and rarely used in modern Japanese (e.g., 嚏る (ひる) hi-ru "to sneeze", with the same modern meaning and form, but almost never
used). On the other hand, some have kept the same meaning, form, and prominence into the modern language (e.g., 見る (みる) mi-ru
"to see", one of the oldest surviving verbs in the language and also one of the most common, both in classical and modern texts).

在すかり (imasukar-i "to exist", honorific form) has three pronunciation variants, each of which can use either Chinese character: 在
すがり (いますがり) / 坐すがり (いますがり) (imasugar-i), 在そかり / 坐そかり (imasokar-i), and 在そがり / 坐そがり
(imasogar-i).

Finally, the "modern" transcriptions are purely orthographic. For example, the modern version conclusive form of the classical verb 來
(く) (k-u "to come") is 来る (くる) (k-uru), but the modern form is given in the table as 来 (く) (k-u), which is the way that a modern
Japanese writer would write theclassical Japanese word, rather than the way they would write themodern Japanese word.

Adjectives (形容詞 Keiyoushi)

Classical Japanese has the following classes of adjectives and stem forms:

活用 未然形 連用形 終止形 連体形 已然形 命令形

(Katsuyō Conjugation (Mizenkei (Ren'yōkei (Shūshikei (Rentaikei (Izenkei (Meireikei
"Conjugation type "Irrealis "Continuitive "Conclusive "Attributive "Realis "Imperative
class") form) form") form") form") form") form")

ク活用 (Ku- Basic ～け(れ)

～け (-ke) ～く (-ku) ～し (-shi) ～き (-ki) N/A
katsuyou conjugations (-ke[re])
"Ku-
conjugation Compound ～から (- ～かる (-kar- ～かれ (- ～かれ (-
～かり (-kar-i)
class") conjugations kar-a) u) kar-e) kar-e)

～しけ
シク活用 Basic ～しけ (- ～しく (- ～しき (-
～し (-shi) (れ) (- N/A
(Shiku- conjugations shike) shiku) shiki)
katsuyou sike[re])
"Shiku-
～しかれ
conjugation Compound ～しから ～しかり (- ～しかる (- ～しかれ (-
conjugations (-shikar-
class") (-shikar-a) shikar-i) shikar-u) shikar-e)
e)

Table notes
Some of these forms are very rare and used sparingly. In particular, the ～け (-ke) / ～しけ (-shike) are used almost exclusively in an
ancient construction calledク語法 (Ku-gohō "Ku-grammar") which uses the irrealis for to form nouns from verbs and adjectives; e.g.,
安し (やすし) (yasu-hsi "peaceful") → 安け (やすけ) (yasu-ke) + ～く (-ku) → 安けく (やすけく) (yasukeku "peace of mind"). The
construction ～くば (-kuba) / ～しくば (-shikuba) appears to be an irrealis form ～く (-ku) / ～しく (-shiku) + particle ～ば (-ba)
(since that particle usually attaches to the irrealis form), but is actually ～ く (-ku) / ～ し く (-shiku) + particle は (ha; modern
pronunciation wa) with a sequential voicing sound change fromは (ha) to ば (ba).

The compound forms are derived from continuitive form ～く (-ku) / ～しく (-shiku) + 有り (ar-i) → ～くあり (-kuar-i) / ～しくあ
り (-shikuar-i), which then became ～かり (-kar-i) / ～しかり (-shikar-i) by regular sound change rules from Old Japanese. The forms
then follow the R-irregular conjugation type like有り (ar-i), but lack the conclusive form.

Similarly, the basic conjugations have no imperative form. When it is used, therefore, the ～かれ (-kar-e) / ～しかれ (-shikar-e) forms
are used. It is however, relatively rare, even in classical Japanese.

Adjectival verbs (形容動詞 Keiyou doushi)

There are the following classes for adjectival verbs:

未然形 連用形 終止形 連体形 已然形 命令形

Header text (Mizenkei (Ren'yōkei (Shūshikei (Rentaikei (Izenkei (Meireikei
"Irrealis "Continuitive "Conclsive "Attributive "Realis "Imperative
form") form") form") form) form) form")

ナリ活用 (Nari-
katsuyou "Nari- ～なら (- ～に (-ni) / ～ ～なる (-nar- ～なれ (- ～なれ (-nar-
～なり (-nar-i)
conjugation nar-a) なり (-nar-i) u) nar-e) e)
class")

タリ活用 (Tari-
katsuyou "Tari- ～たら (-tar- ～と (-to) / ～ ～たる (-tar- ～たれ (-
～たり (-tar-i) ～たれ (-tar-e)
conjugation a) たり (-tar-i) u) tar-e)
class")

Table notes
Adjectival verbs are essentially nouns combined with a copula, either ～なり (-nar-i) or ～たり (-tar-i). Which copula is used is
specific to the adjectival verb in question.

The copulas are derived from directional particles に (ni) + ～有り (-ar-i) and と (to) + ～有り (-ar-i), respectively, yielding にあり
(niar-i) and とあり (toar-i), respectively, which then lead to なり (nar-i) and たり (tar-i), respectively, by regular sound change rules.
They therefore follow the R-irregular conjugation like有り (ar-i).

As with adjectives, the imperative form is rare, but is used.

Miscellaneous
とう だい もと くら

灯台下暗し
Toudai moto kurashi

The particle は is omitted more often than in the spoken style.

をんな さんがい いへ

女は三界に家なし
Wonna wa sangai-ni ihe-nashi

See also
Literary language
External links
Bungo Nyūmon: A Brief Introduction to Classical Japanese
Bibliography of premodern Japanese texts and translations
Bart. "Book Review: A Grammar of Classical Japaneseby Akira Komai", Monumenta Nipponica,Vol. 34, No. 4
(Winter, 1979), pp. 501-504.
Dictionaries for Classical Japanese

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Classical_Japanese_language&oldid=837377539

"

This page was last edited on 20 April 2018, at 13:08(UTC).

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.