Japanese irregular verbsJapanese verb conjugation is very regular, as is usual for an agglutinative language, but there are a number of exceptions. The best-known irregular verbs (ไธ่ฆๅๅ่ฉ[citation needed], fukisoku dลshi) are the common verbs ใใ suru "do" and ๆฅใ kuru "come", sometimes categorized as the two Group 3 verbs. As these are the only verbs frequently flagged as significantly irregular, they are sometimes misunderstood to be the only irregular verbs in Japanese. However, there are about a dozen irregular verbs in Japanese, depending on how one counts. The other irregular verbs encountered at the beginning level are ใใ aru "be (inanimate)" and ่กใ iku/yuku "go", with the copula behaving similarly to an irregular verb. There are also a few irregular adjectives, of which the most common and significant is ่ฏใ yoi "good". TerminologyThe word "irregular" is tentatively used to translate the Japanese word henkaku (ๅคๆ ผ).[1] There are four types of "irregular inflection" (ๅคๆ ผๆดป็จ, henkaku katsuyล):
"Irregular verbs", or actually, henkaku verbs, are a minor group of verbs that do not conform to the inflectional patterns of major "regular" godan and ichidan verbs. This does not necessarily mean that all "regular" verbs are uniformly regular, nor that all "irregular" verbs of one of the classes above are equally irregular. For instance, the verb iku (่กใ) belongs to the "regular" godan class, yet when combining with the auxiliary ta (ใ) or the particle te (ใฆ), it exhibits irregularity compared to the rest of its own class. Likewise, the "regular" godan verbs tou (ๅใ) and kou (่ซใ) are just as irregular. Meanwhile, some "irregular" sa-hen verbs such as aisu(ru) (ๆใ๏ผใ๏ผ) and kanzu(ru) (ๆใ๏ผใ๏ผ) have assumed many inflectional forms typical of the "regular" godan and ichidan classes, respectively, making them increasingly "regular", yet irregular to their own "irregular" prototype, su(ru) (ใ๏ผใ๏ผ). Historically, s-irregular and k-irregular verbs were sometimes known as sandan (ไธๆฎต),[5][6] given that their forms contain three out of the five vowels of Japanese. suru and kuru The most significant irregular verbs are the verbs ใใ suru "to do" and ๆฅใ kuru "to come", which are both very common and quite irregular. Often the conjugations behave as if they were instead the verb ใใ or ใ, or respectively ใใ or ใใ, where (other than ใ) these are ichidan verb (Group 2 verbs, ru verbs) conjugation (there are no -oru ichidan verbs, though ๆฅใ sometimes behaves as if it were one), but beyond there are further exceptions. Historically ใใ came from earlier ใ, which explains some of the irregularity. The following table is ordered to emphasize the regularities.
The irregular ใใชใ -nai stem of ใใ is often overlooked; it is used in grammatical forms where the ใใชใ form is used without the ใใชใ โ generally formal โ as in ้ฃในใ tabe-zu "without eating" or ้ฃในใใใใ tabe-n ga tame "for the purpose of eating". In these contexts ใใ becomes ใ, as in ใใ se-zu "without doing" or ใใใใใ se-n ga tame "for the purpose of doing". Note the similarity to ใใพใใ as the negative form of ใใพใ, of the same origin. The potential ๆฅใใ koreru form is from the omission of ra in the ใใใ rareru potential form, and is found in all Group 2 verbs; it is considered an error by prescriptive grammarians, but is increasingly common, particularly in spoken speech and in younger Japanese. Basic grammar
The copula ใ and ใงใ (polite), together with the verb ใใ aru "be (inanimate)", which is used grammatically, and the ใใพใ suffix, which functions similarly to an irregular auxiliary verb, are all irregular to varying degrees, and particularly used in polite speech. It is debatable whether they should be classified as verbs or as different parts of speech. Formally, the copula is ใงใใ de aru. This form is normal in writing, but in spoken Japanese it is almost universally contracted to ใ da, or in some dialects ใใ ja or ใ ya. When conjugated politely, ใงใใ de aru becomes ใงใใใพใ de arimasu following the regular transformation. This form is normal in writing, except that most writing either uses plain conjugations or the honorific forms, so in fact this form is not commonly seen. In spoken Japanese, ใงใใใพใ de arimasu is universally contracted to ใงใ desu.
(*) indicates literary forms (**) ใใ ja is a dialectal spoken form of ใ da Polite verbsThese 5 special polite verbs have the slight irregularity that ใใ -ru changes to ใใ -i in the -masu stem (continuative form, ้ฃ็จๅฝข) and imperative stem (ๅฝไปคๅฝข), as opposed to the expected รใใ *-ri and รใใ *-re. As these all end in -aru, these can be termed "aru special class". The most commonly encountered of these is ใใใ ใใ, used for polite requests.
EuphonyA few short verbs have irregular euphonic form (้ณไพฟๅฝข) in ใใฆ/ใใ -te/-ta form, most significantly ่กใ iku "go":
These latter euphonic changes โ -owit- โ -owt- โ -out- (โ -ลt-) โ are regular in -te/-ta form in Kansai dialect, e.g., ใใพใฃใ shimatta "done it; darn" โ ใใใใ shimลta, but only occur in the above exceptions in standard Japanese. Euphonic change also results in some conjugations being uniform across the language, but irregular compared with other verbs. Most significantly, the ใ ta and ใฆ te forms (perfective and participle/gerundive) of godan verbs all exhibit euphonic sound change, except for ใ su verbs. The volitional form, as in ่ชญใใ yomล and ้ฃในใใ tabeyล, does not correspond to a verb stem ending in -o but is actually formed from the irrealis -a stem, with a euphonic change of a to o โ for example yomu > yoma-u > yomou = yomล. Thus the apparent volitional "stem" is not seen in other contexts. Single kanji suruWhile pronunciation remains unchanged when two-kanji compounds are denominalized by ใใใ suru verbs, pronunciation or conjugations may be irregular in the cases where single-kanji suru verbs behave as new independent words.[7] For example, these single-kanji words exhibit various pronunciation changes (where two-kanji suru verbs would not):
Additionally, the ใใ can be dropped accordingly (except for the ใใใ forms):
These ใใ๏ผใ๏ผใ forms may be conjugated in various ways, particularly in less common forms. One notable example is ๆใใ ai-suru (often conjugated as ๆใ ai-su) where the potential form is ๆใใ ai-seru rather than ๆใงใใ ai-dekiru,[8] and the negative form is ๆใใชใ ai-sanai rather than ๆใใชใ ai-shinai. While irregular compared to the -suru conjugation scheme, ๆใ ai-su and other -su verbs are actually conjugated as regular Godan (Group 1) verbs. Similarly, the -jiru verbs mentioned above are conjugated as regular Ichidan (Group 2) verbs. Some single-kanji ใใ verbs have irregular passive conjugations which stem from classical Japanese. For example:
Alternative rootsFor a few verbs, the root of the verb changes depending on context. Most significantly, these are:
Regular but unusualSome verbs follow rules that are regular (in terms of the overall language), but relatively unusual or special. While not irregular by itself, they present many of the same difficulties. Irrealis form of u verbsVerbs ending in ใ -u have the unusual irrealis ending -wa, as in ่ฒทใใชใ ka-wa-nai, from ่ฒทใ ka-u. This is due to these traditionally having a w, but the [w] being lost except as ใ wa (and in ใ (w)o following an ใ n). iru and eru verbsMost Japanese verbs are godan verbs (ไบๆฎตๅ่ฉ, godan-dลshi; literally: "Class-5 verbs", aka: Group 1 verbs, uโverbs), though there are also the ichidan verbs (ไธๆฎตๅ่ฉ, ichidan-dลshi; literally: "Class-1 verbs", aka: Group 2 verbs, ruโverbs). All ichidan verbs end in -iru or -eru, but not all verbs ending in -iru or -eru are ichidan verbs โ instead, some are godan verbs. Thus the conjugation type of a verb ending in -iru or -eru cannot be determined naively from the dictionary form. There are many such verbs with common examples being ็ฅใ shiru "know", ่ตฐใ hashiru "run", ๅ ฅใ hairu "enter", and ๅธฐใ kaeru "return". There are also homophone verbs that could be either godan or ichidan verbs; for example, ็ใใ ikiru "live, stay alive" and ๅฏใ neru "sleep" are ichidan verbs, but ็ฑใ ikiru "become sultry" and ็ทดใ neru "temper, refine, knead" are godan verbs. nu verbsๆญปใฌ shinu (to die) is the only ใฌ -nu verb, and thus its conjugations are less familiar, but it is otherwise regular. There used to be other ใฌ -nu verbs, notably ๅพใฌ๏ผๅปใฌ ใใฌ inu "leave". Compound verbsJapanese compound verbs are generally constructed using the masu stem form of the primary verb, as in ่ชญใฟๅงใใ yomi-hajimeru "begin to read". In some cases compound verbs do not follow this pattern, generally due to sound change. Such exceptions include ๆฏใ่ใ furu-mau "behave, conduct; treat (to food or drink)", from ๆฏใใ furuu + ่ใ mau, instead of the regular รๆฏใใ่ใ *furui-mau. AbbreviationsThere are various abbreviations in Japanese, primarily of nouns or of inflections, such as ใใฆใใ to ใใฆใ or ใใฆใใ to ใใจใ, or even ใใฆใใใฎ to ใใฆใ, though verb roots only rarely change. One such example is in the verb ใใใฃใใใ, which has the following abbreviated forms:
MiscellaneousThe imperative form of the auxiliary verb ใใใใ -kureru is ใใใ -kure, rather than the expected รใใใ *kurero. AdjectivesJapanese adjectives, specifically i-adjectives, function grammatically as verbs, though with more limited conjugation. There are a few irregularities of note. Most significantly, ่ฏใ yoi "good" is generally replaced by ii in the base form (yoi is found in formal usage), though only yoi is used in conjugated forms such as ่ฏใ yoku and ่ฏใใชใ yokunai. There are more minor and subtler irregularities in certain constructions, particularly in adjectives with single-mora roots. In the -me form, adjectives can replace the -i with a ใใ -me (in kanji ใ็ฎ) to indicate "somewhat", as in ่ใ usu-me "somewhat watery, weak" from ่ใ usu-i "watery, weak". However, in some cases the -i is not dropped, notably ๆฟใใ ko-i-me "somewhat strong (tea etc.)", from ๆฟใ ko-i. In the -sugiru form, verbs and adjective attach a ใใใใ -sugiru (in kanji ใ้ใใ) to the stem to indicate "excessive" โ for example ่ฟใใใ chika-sugiru "too close", from ่ฟใ chika-i "close" โ but in the case of a ใใชใ -na-i negative ending (and standalone ใชใ nai), there is sometimes an intrusive ใใ -sa, yielding ใใชใใใใ (standalone ใชใใใใ na-sa-sugiru) instead of the expected ใใชใใใ -na-sugiru. Typically this is optional, and generally omitted, as in ๅฟใใช๏ผใ๏ผใใใ sewashina(-sa)-sugiru "too restless", but for single-mora stems it is generally included, as in ใชใใใใ na-sa-sugiru "not too much", instead of marginal โณใชใใใ ?na-sugiru. There is considerable variation and uncertainty by native speakers, as these forms are uncommon. Further, this is confusingly similar to the intrusive ใใ -sa when an adjective is followed by ใใใใ -sล da "appears, seems", so ่ฏใใใใ yo-sa-sล da "seems good" and ็กใใใใ na-sa-sล da "seems not", but ่ฏใใใ yo-sugiru "too good" and ็กใใใใ na-sa-sugiru "too not, too absent".[9][10] ้ใใ shizu-ke-sa "tranquility" is not an irregular derivation of ้ใ shizu-ka "quiet, still" โ the regular derivation ้ใใ shizu-ka-sa "quietness, stillness" exists and is used โ but is rather a separate word of distinct etymology โ in Old Japanese the root words were ้ใใ shizu-ke-shi and ้ใใชใ shizu-ka-nari, to which the ใใ -sa was separately affixed.[11] History
Some irregular verbs date at least to Old Japanese, notably ใใใๆฅใใใใใๆญปใฌ. The other ใฌ verb ใใฌ also dates to Old Japanese, though is now no longer used, and ๅฑ ใ iru "be (animate)" was formerly ใใ woru and irregular, though it is now regular. References
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