Adjectival noun
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An adjectival noun (Japanese: 形容動詞, keiyō-dōshi, "adjectival verb") or sometimes just adjectival is a noun that functions as an adjective. This term is often used in analyses of the Japanese language to refer to members of the word class commonly known as "na-adjectives".
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[edit] Old Japanese
Old Japanese has one type of adjectival noun with the following inflections.
| Irrealis 未然形 |
Adverbial 連用形 |
Conclusive 終止形 |
Attributive 連体形 |
Realis 已然形 |
Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -nara | -nari | -nari | -naru | -nare | -nare |
[edit] Late Old Japanese
Late Old Japanese has two types of adjectival nouns: nar- and tar-.
| Type | Irrealis 未然形 |
Adverbial 連用形 |
Conclusive 終止形 |
Attributive 連体形 |
Realis 已然形 |
Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nar- | -nara | -nari -ni |
-nari | -naru | -nare | -nare |
| Tar- | -tara | -tari -to |
-tari | -taru | -tare | -tare |
The newly developed tar- inflections are used in kanbun kundoku (reading a Chinese text in Japanese).
[edit] Early Middle Japanese
Early Middle Japanese has two types of adjectival nouns: na- and tar-.
| Type | Irrealis 未然形 |
Adverbial 連用形 |
Conclusive 終止形 |
Attributive 連体形 |
Realis 已然形 |
Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Na- | -nara | -nari -ni |
-nari | -naru -na |
-nare | |
| Tar- | -to | -tari | -taru |
[edit] Late Middle Japanese
Late Middle Japanese has two types of adjectival nouns: na and t-.
| Type | Irrealis 未然形 |
Adverbial 連用形 |
Conclusive 終止形 |
Attributive 連体形 |
Realis 已然形 |
Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N- | -nara | -ni -de |
-dya -na |
-naru -na no |
-nare | |
| T- | -to | -taru |
[edit] Early Modern Japanese (Kamigata)
The early half of Early Middle Japanese as exhibited in the Kamigata region has a single type of adjectival noun with the following inflections.
| Irrealis 未然形 |
Adverbial 連用形 |
Conclusive 終止形 |
Attributive 連体形 |
Realis 已然形 |
Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ni -de |
-na | -na | -nare |
The derteriorating tar- type is lost.
[edit] Early Modern Japanese (Edo)
The later half of Early Modern Japanese as found in Edo has a single type of adjectival noun with the following inflections.
| Irrealis 未然形 |
Adverbial 連用形 |
Conclusive 終止形 |
Attributive 連体形 |
Hypothetical 仮定形 |
Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -daro | -daQ -de -ni |
-da | -na | -nara |
[edit] Modern Japanese
There is one type of adjectival noun in modern usage, with inflections as follows.
| Irrealis 未然形 |
Adverbial 連用形 |
Conclusive 終止形 |
Attributive 連体形 |
Hypothetical 仮定形 |
Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -daro | -daQ -de -ni |
-da | -na | -nara |
- The modern inflections are based on two primitive forms: d- and n-. The n- forms are historical older while the d- forms are newer and have replaced some of the older n- forms.
- Irrealis -daro is found with particle -u, resulting in -darou (-darō). Historically it was -dara. /au/ reguarlly changed into [ō].
- Adverbial -daQ is often found with past particle -ta, resulting in "daQta" -> "datta".
- Adverbial -de is found before "aru" and "nai", as well as being used in 中止法.
- Adverbial -ni is used in 連用修飾方.
- Modern Japanese no longer inflects for imperative.
[edit] Etymology
The nar- and tar- forms share a common etymology. The nar- form is a contraction of case particle ni and r-irregular verb ar- "is, be": ni + ar- > nar-. The tar- form is a contraction of case particle to and r-irregular verb ar- "is, be": to + ar- > tar-. Both derive their conjugations from the verb ar-.
Both -dya and -da share a common etymology.
dya: ni te aru > de aru > dea > dya
da: ni te aru > de aru > dea > da
ni and te are particles and aru is the verb ar- "is, be". dya is prominent in the Kansai region, while da is prominent in the Kantō region. dya is written as "ja" in Hepburn-style romanization.
