仕える

Japanese
Kanji in this term
仕
つか
Grade: 3
kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
事える (rare)

Etymology

/tukapu/ → /t͡sukafu/ → /t͡sukafuru/ → /t͡sukaferu/ → /t͡sukaeru/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū of 759.[1]

Cognate with 使う (tsukau, ancient tsukapu; “to use”), and derived via regular historical processes from the 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjgation”) verb paradigm from this same root form.

Development
Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.

While the 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) pattern for tsukau was used to refer to the action of a superior to a subordinate, the shimo nidan conjugation pattern was used to refer to the action of a subordinate to a superior.[1]

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) つかえ​る [tsùkáéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])[2]
  • (Tokyo) つかえる [tsùkáérú] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA(key): [t͡sɨᵝka̠e̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]
  • Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "仕える"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形)
Attributive (連体形)		 仕える つかえ​る
つか​える		 [tsùkáéꜜrù]
[tsùkáꜜèrù]
Imperative (命令形) 仕えろ つかえ​ろ
つか​えろ		 [tsùkáéꜜrò]
[tsùkáꜜèrò]
Key constructions
Passive 仕えられる つかえられ​る [tsùkáéráréꜜrù]
Causative 仕えさせる つかえさせ​る [tsùkáésáséꜜrù]
Potential 仕えられる つかえられ​る [tsùkáéráréꜜrù]
Volitional 仕えよう つかえよ​ー [tsùkáéyóꜜò]
Negative 仕えない つかえ​ない [tsùkáéꜜnàì]
Negative perfective 仕えなかった つかえ​なかった [tsùkáéꜜnàkàttà]
Formal 仕えます つかえま​す [tsùkáémáꜜsù]
Perfective 仕えた つか​えた [tsùkáꜜètà]
Conjunctive 仕えて つか​えて [tsùkáꜜètè]
Hypothetical conditional 仕えれば つかえ​れば
つか​えれば		 [tsùkáéꜜrèbà]
[tsùkáꜜèrèbà]

Verb

仕(つか)える • (tsukaeru) ←つかへる (tukaferu)?intransitive ichidan (stem 仕(つか)え (tsukae), past 仕(つか)えた (tsukaeta))

Japanese verb pair
active 使う
mediopassive 仕える
  1. to serve, serve under, take service under
  2. to enter public service

Usage notes

This verb is intransitive. What would be translated as the object of this verb in English is marked by に (ni) in Japanese. Examples:

  • 最(もっと)も高(たか)い目(もく)的(てき)に仕(つか)える
    motto mo takai mokuteki ni tsukaeru
    to be useful to the highest purpose → to serve the highest purpose
  • この数(すう)年(ねん)間(かん)、父(ちち)母(はは)に仕(つか)えている。
    Kono sūnenkan, chichihaha ni tsukaeteiru.
    I have been being useful to my parents for several years now. → I have been taking care of my parents for several years now.

Conjugation
Conjugation of "仕える" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 仕え つかえ tsukae
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 仕え つかえ tsukae
Shūshikei ("terminal") 仕える つかえる tsukaeru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 仕える つかえる tsukaeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 仕えれ つかえれ tsukaere
Meireikei ("imperative") 仕えよ¹
仕えろ²		 つかえよ¹
つかえろ²		 tsukaeyo¹
tsukaero²
Key constructions
Passive 仕えられる つかえられる tsukaerareru
Causative 仕えさせる
仕えさす		 つかえさせる
つかえさす		 tsukaesaseru
tsukaesasu
Potential 仕えられる
仕えれる³		 つかえられる
つかえれる³		 tsukaerareru
tsukaereru³
Volitional 仕えよう つかえよう tsukaeyō
Negative 仕えない
仕えぬ
仕えん		 つかえない
つかえぬ
つかえん		 tsukaenai
tsukaenu
tsukaen
Negative continuative 仕えず つかえず tsukaezu
Formal 仕えます つかえます tsukaemasu
Perfective 仕えた つかえた tsukaeta
Conjunctive 仕えて つかえて tsukaete
Hypothetical conditional 仕えれば つかえれば tsukaereba
¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

Synonyms

Derived terms
  • 神(かみ)に仕(つか)える (kami ni tsukaeru) serve God
  • 主(しゅ)人(じん)に仕(つか)える (shujin ni tsukaeru): serve a master, serve an employer faithfully
  • 二(に)君(くん)に仕(つか)える (nikun ni tsukaeru): serve two masters
  • すまじきものは宮(みや)仕(づか)え (sumajiki mono wa miyazukae): it is better to work for oneself than to work for someone else

Derived terms
Derived terms
Homophones deriving from the root つく (tsuku)

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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