よう
Japanese
editEtymology 1
editFor pronunciation and definitions of よう – see the following entries. | ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
(This term, よう (yō), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as よう, see Category:Japanese kanji read as よう.) |
(The following entries are uncreated: 瘍, 窯, 鷹, 夭, 拗, 涌, 痒, 蛹, 熔, 膺, 邀, 鎔.)
Usage notes
editGrammaticized 様 (yō) is most likely to be spelled in hiragana.
Etymology 2
editFor pronunciation and definitions of よう – see the following entry. | ||
| ||
(This term, よう (yō), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as よう, see Category:Japanese kanji read as よう.) |
Etymology 3
edit/mu/ → /ũ/ → /u/ → (for type 2 (ichidan) and type 3 (irregular) verbs) /joː/
From Classical Japanese suppositional / volitional / hortative suffix む (-mu).
The volitional verb suffix was originally む (mu, /mu/). This regularly shifted to a nasalized /ũ/, which then lost its nasalization and was reinterpreted as regular う (u, /u/) by roughly the Kamakura period (1185–1333).[1][2][3]
This suffix grammatically attached to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of the verb. Regular sound changes then gave rise to the modern よう (yō, /joː/) ending, initially via fusion of the vowel sounds, and then by a reanalysis of the resulting fused -yō as the suffix to be added to the mizenkei stem. This reformulation as verb stem + suffix -yō started in the late Muromachi period (1336–1573) and continued through the Edo period in 1603–1868).[1][2][3]
- 上一段活用 (kami ichidan, “upper monograde”) verbs with mizenkei stems ending in -i:
- 見む (mimu, /mimu/) → 見う (miu, /miu/) → 見う (myō, /mjoː/) → 見よう (miyō, /mijoː/)
- 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan, “lower monograde”) verbs with mizenkei stems ending in -e:
- 上げむ (agemu, /aɡemu/) → 上げう (ageu, /aɡeu/) → 上げう (agyō, /aɡjoː/) → 上げよう (ageyō, /aɡejoː/)
- The irregular verb する (suru) underwent further changes. The classical mizenkei stem ended in -e, and せ (se) in classical Japanese was pronounced more as she. Around the same time that the fused shō was separating again into a verb stem + suffix, the mizenkei stem shifted to end in i:
- せむ (shemu, /ɕemu/) → せう (sheu, /ɕeu/) → せう (shō, /ɕoː/) → しよう (shiyō, /ɕijoː/)
- The irregular verb 来る (kuru) has a mizenkei stem ending in -o. This stem includes no front-vowel sound like /e/ or /i/ that might produce the palatal glide in /joː/, and here, the final -yō arose as a parallel construction with the above verb paradigms:
- 来む (komu, /komu/) → 来う (kou, /kou/) → 来う (kō, /koː/) → 来よう (koyō, /kojoː/)
Meanwhile, for regular classical 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) verbs, the mizenkei stem ends in -a. This ultimately fused with the -u suffix form to produce -ō, resulting in the modern regular 五段活用 (godan katsuyō, “quintigrade conjugation”).
- 行かむ (ikamu, /ikamu/) → 行かう (ikau, /ikau/) → 行かう (ikau, /ikɔː/) → 行こう (ikō, /ikoː/)
Pronunciation
editSuffix
edit- volitional: expressing one's will or intention to do something
- そろそろ寝よう。 ― Sorosoro neyō. ― I will go to bed before long.
- 美味しいものを食べようと思っています。
- Oishii mono o tabeyō to omotte imasu.
- I'm thinking I will eat something delicious.
- hortative: inducing or stimulating other person to do something
- そうしよう。 ― Sō shiyō. ― Let's do that.
- さあ、始めよう。 ― Sā, hajimeyō. ― Let's get started.
- volitional: followed by とする (to suru): to try to do; to attempt to do
- 人に優れようとしています。
- Hito ni sugureyō to shite imasu.
- I am trying to surpass others.
- 人に優れようとしています。
- followed by とする (to suru): to be about to do; to be on the verge of doing
- 出かけようとした時、電話がかかってきた。
- Dekakeyō to shita toki, denwa ga kakatte kita.
- I got a phone call when I was about to go out.
- 出かけようとした時、電話がかかってきた。
- (archaic, formal) suppositional: expressing what is likely the case
- (followed by が (ga) or と (to), often in parallel) whether … or …
- Blog|細井厚子の万華鏡|透明な花
- その願いが叶うなら、私の万華鏡がオモチャと呼ばれようが、ガラクタと呼ばれようが、そんなことはどうでもいいと思っています。
- Sono negai ga kanau nara, watashi no mangekyō ga omocha to yobareyō ga, garakuta to yobareyō ga, sonna koto wa dō de mo ii to omotte imasu.
- I don't think I will be concerned whether my kaleidoscope is called a toy or rubbish, as long as that wish is fulfilled.
- その願いが叶うなら、私の万華鏡がオモチャと呼ばれようが、ガラクタと呼ばれようが、そんなことはどうでもいいと思っています。
- Blog|細井厚子の万華鏡|透明な花
Usage notes
editAttaches only to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of type 2 (ichidan) and type 3 (irregular) verbs.
The volitional form of type 1 (godan) verbs are formed with う (-u) instead of よう (-yō), with further sound changes.
In traditional Japanese grammar, this is a 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”), with the sole form よう (yō) as the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and the 連体形 (rentaikei, “adnominal form”). Morphologically, this is an uninflecting inflectional suffix attaching to the stem of vowel-stem verbs.
See also
editEtymology 4
edit
Pronunciation
editInterjection
edit- A very informal greeting similar to yo.
- よう、元気?
- Yō, genki?
- Yo! Howdy?
- よう、元気?
- A very informal (rude) interjection similar to hey.
- よう、待てよ。
- Yō, mateyo.
- Hey, wait.
- よう、待てよ。
Usage notes
editWomen or gentlemen generally use ねえ (nē) instead of よう (yō). よう (yō) is masculine but gives a rude impression at times; ねえ (nē) is more graceful.
Synonyms
editEtymology 5
edit
Alternative spelling |
---|
良う |
ウ音便 (u-onbin) of Standard Japanese 良く (yoku).
Pronunciation
editAdjective
edit- Alternative form of よく (yoku)
- よう来たな。
- Yō kita na.
- (please add an English translation of this example)
- よう来たな。
References
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- Japanese nouns
- Japanese lemmas
- Japanese hiragana
- Japanese suffixes
- Japanese affixes
- Japanese proper nouns
- Japanese counters
- Japanese adjectives
- Japanese verbs
- Japanese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Japanese terms with usage examples
- Japanese terms with archaic senses
- Japanese formal terms
- Japanese interjections
- Japanese non-lemma forms
- Japanese adjective forms