連用形

Japanese
Kanji in this term
連 用 形
れん
Grade: 4		 よう
Grade: 2		 けい
Grade: 2
on’yomi kan’on

Etymology

Compound of 連用 (ren'yō, “attaching to an inflecting word”, where 用 (yō) is short for 用言 (yōgen, “inflecting word”)) +‎ 形 (kei, “form”).[1][2]

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) れんよーけー [rèń'yóókéé] (Heiban – [0])[2][3][4]
  • IPA(key): [ɾẽ̞ɰ̃jo̞ːke̞ː]

Noun

連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) • (ren'yōkei) 

  1. (grammar) an inflectional category: the continuative or stem form for verbs, the adverbial form for adjectives
    This is the base form after which various conjugational endings are added, such as て (te) or ます (masu). See Appendix:Japanese verbs for more details.

Usage notes
  • As a term describing an inherently Japanese grammatical form, 連用形 is sometimes simply transliterated. When rendered into English, the term has been translated different ways by different authors. Alternative glosses include:
  • In regards to -i adjectives:
    • The initial k sound of the -ku ending can be elided, in a process called ウ音便. This is often seen in Heian-era language. In modern standard Japanese, this is usually found in fossilized phrases that are often (but not always) archaic. It also remains as a dialectal feature.
      ありがたく→ありがたう→ありがとう
      arigataku→arigatau→arigatō
      being difficult to exist → thank you
      苦(くる)しくない→苦(くる)しうない→苦(くる)しゅうない
      kurushikunai→kurushiunai→kurushūnai
      it is not agonizing → there is no problem
    • In modern Kansai dialect, an innovation has taken place where the -ku ending of the 連用形 can be dropped, as:[5]
      凄(すご)くない？→凄(すご)ない？
      Sugokunai?→Sugonai?
      Isn't it incredible?
      高(たか)くなる→高(たか)なる
      takakunaru→takanaru
      to become higher

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
  3. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
  4. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. https://www.akenotsuki.com/kyookotoba/shin.html
  • Sandness, Karen (1999) The Evolution of the Japanese Past and Perfective suffixes, Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, →ISBN, pages 3, 12, 42, others
  • Henderson, Harold Gould (1948) Handbook of Japanese Grammar, Houghton Mifflin Co., page 12
  • Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Volume 6, University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1932, page 643
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.