Japanese adjectives

This article deals with Japanese equivalents of English adjectives.

Types of adjective

In Japanese, nouns and verbs can modify nouns, with nouns taking the 〜の particles when functioning attributively (in the genitive case), and verbs in the attributive form. These are considered separate classes of words, however.

Most of the words that can be considered to be adjectives in Japanese fall into one of two categories – variants of verbs, and nouns:

• adjectival verb (Japanese: 形容詞, , literally 形容 "description" or "appearance" + 詞 "word"), or i-adjectives

These can be considered specialized verbs, in that they inflect for various aspects such as past tense or negation, and they can be used predicatively to end a sentence, without the need for any other "to be" verb. For example, (暑い) "hot":

暑い日 () ("a hot day")

今日は暑い。(.) ("Today is hot.")

• adjectival noun (形容動詞, , literally 形容 "description" or "appearance" + 動詞 "verb"Template:Efn), or na-adjectives

These can be considered a form of noun in terms of syntax; these attach to the copula, which then inflects, but use 〜な (-na) (rather than the genitive 〜の) when modifying a noun. For example, (変) "strange":

変な人 () ("a strange person")

彼は変だ。(.) ("He is strange.")

Both the predicative forms (終止形 , also called the "conclusive form" or "terminal form") and attributive forms (連体形 ) of i-adjectives and na-adjectives can be analyzed as verb phrases, making their attributive forms relative clauses rather than adjectives. According to this analysis, Japanese has no syntactic adjectives.

Japanese adjectives that do not fall into either of these categories are usually grouped into a grab-bag category:

• attributives (連体詞, , literally 連 "connects, goes with" + 体 "body", short for 体言 "uninflecting word" such as a noun + 詞 "word")

These may only occur before nouns, and not in a predicative position. They are various in derivation and word class, and are generally analyzed as variants of more basic classes, where this specific form (possibly a fossil) can only be used in restricted settings. For example, (大きな) "big" (variant of 大きい):

大きな事 () ("a big thing")

A couple of small sub-categories can be distinguished in these categories, reflecting former grammatical distinctions or constructions which no longer exist:

• shii-adjectives (form of i-adjectives, see below)
• -yaka na adjectives (see below)
• -raka na adjectives (see below)
• taru-adjectives (ト・タル形容動詞, , literally "to, taru adjectival noun")

These are a variant of the common na-adjectives that developed in Late Old Japanese and have mostly died out, surviving in a few cases as fossils; they are usually classed as a form of 形容動詞 (na-adjective), as the Japanese name indicates.

• naru-adjectives

These are words that were traditionally earlier forms of na-adjectives, but that followed a path similar to taru-adjectives, surviving in a few cases as fossils. These are generally classed as attributives.

Syntax

i-adjectives

i-adjectives end with い (i) (but never えい, ei) in base form. They may predicate sentences and inflect for past, negative, etc. As they head verb phrases, they can be considered a type of verbal (verb-like part of speech) and inflect in an identical manner as the negative form of verbs. Their inflections are different and not so numerous as full verbs.

i-adjectives are considered verbs because they inflect with the same bases as verbs and their respective usages: irrealis (未然形 ), continuative (連用形 ), terminal (終止形 ), attributive (連体形 ), hypothetical (仮定形 ), and imperative (命令形 ).

Among the six bases of verbs for i-adjectives, there exist two sets of inflection paradigms: a "plain" or "true" conjugation, and what is known as a kari-conjugation (カリ活用 ), which is the result of the contraction between the "plain" continuative form 〜く () and the verb あり (有り, 在り) , meaning "to exist", "to have", or "to be". Due to this, the kari-conjugation paradigm resembles that of the r-irregular conjugation paradigm (ラ行変格活用 ) of あり , however the hypothetical (historically the 已然形 ) is 〜けれ instead of 〜かれ (used historically, and also the imperative base).

The stem of i-adjectives can combine (prepend on the left), similar to the continuative form of verbs, though this is less common than for verbs. Conversely, nouns or verb stems can sometimes prepend i-adjectives, or two i-adjectives can combine, forming compound modifiers; these are much less common than Japanese compound verbs. Common examples include (noun + i-adjective), and (i-adjective stem + i-adjective); while (i-adjective stem + verb stem) shows an adjective stem joining to form a noun.

shii-adjectives

A number of i-adjectives end in (sometimes written -sii). These are overwhelmingly words for feelings, like or . These were originally a separate class of adjectives, dating at least to Old Japanese (see Old Japanese adjectives), where the two classes are known as and , corresponding to -i and -shii. However, they merged over the course of Late Middle Japanese (see Late Middle Japanese adjectives), and now shii-adjectives are simply a form of i-adjectives. The distinction, although no longer meaningful in pronunciation, is still reflected by the writing system, where し is still written out in hiragana, as in .

Adjectives that end in -jii (〜じい) are also considered -shii adjectives, such as , and historically , which was initially a -shii adjective, and the classical negative volitional auxiliary .

na-adjectives

na-adjectives always occur with a form of the copula, traditionally considered part of the na-adjective itself. The only syntactical difference between nouns and na-adjective is in the attributive form, where nouns take の (no) and adjectives take な (na). This has led many linguists to consider them a type of nominal (noun-like part of speech). Through use of inflected forms of the copula, these words can also predicate sentences and inflect for past, negative, etc.

Notably, na-adjectives are distinct from regular nouns, in that they cannot be used as the topic, subject, or object. To function in these roles, the na-adjectives must include the nominalizing suffix Template:Nihongo krt, broadly similar to the English suffix -ness that is used to create nouns from adjectives.

-yaka na adjectives

There are a number of na-adjectives ending in 〜やか (-yaka), particularly for subjective words (compare i-adjectives ending in -shii). This is believed to be a combination of the two suffixes 〜や (-ya) and 〜か (-ka), where 〜や meant "softness" and 〜か meant "apparent, visible" (similar to modern 〜そう, -sō, which is also followed by 〜な), hence the combination 〜やか meant "appears somewhat ..., looks slightly ...". This was believed to have been used in the Nara era, and have become particularly popular in the Heian period, but is no longer productive.Template:Better source needed In some cases the original word is now only used (or almost always used) in the 〜やか form, such as 鮮やか (aza-yaka, "vivid, brilliant"), 穏やか (oda-yaka, "calm, gentle"), and 爽やか (sawa-yaka, "fresh, clear"), while in other cases the word is used in isolation, such as 雅 (miyabi, "elegant, graceful"), which is used alongside 雅やか (miyabi-yaka, "elegant, graceful"), and in other cases a related word also exists, such as 賑やか (nigi-yaka, "bustling, busy") and the verb 賑わう (nigi-wau, "be bustling, be busy"). The most basic of these is 賑やか (nigi-yaka, "bustling, busy"), but many of these are everyday words. Due to the 〜やか being originally a suffix, it is written as okurigana, even though the compound word may now be a fixed unit.

-raka na adjectives

Similarly, there are also a few na-adjectives ending in 〜らか (-raka), of similar origin. These are generally less subjective, but declined in popularity relative to the 〜やか construction in the Heian periodTemplate:Better source needed Notable examples include 明らか (aki-raka, "clear, obvious") and 柔らか／軟らか (yawa-raka, "soft, gentle"). As with 〜やか words, the 〜らか is written out as okurigana.

taru-adjectives

A variant of na-adjectives exist, which take 〜たる (-taru) when functioning attributively (as an adjective, modifying a noun), and 〜と (-to) when functioning adverbially (when modifying a verb),Template:Better source needed instead of the 〜な (-na) and 〜に (-ni) which are mostly used with na-adjectives. taru-adjectives do not predicate a sentence (they cannot end a sentence, as verbs and i-adjectives can) or take the copula (as na-adjectives and nouns can), but must modify a noun or verb. Note that sometimes na-adjectives take a 〜と, and Japanese sound symbolisms generally take a (sometimes optional) 〜と, though these are different word classes.

There are very few of these words,Template:Better source needed and they usually are considered somewhat stiff or archaic; this word class is generally not covered in textbooks for foreign language learners of Japanese. One of the most common is 堂々 (dōdō, "magnificent, stately"). These are referred to in Japanese as ト・タル形容動詞 (to, taru keiyōdōshi) or タルト型活用 (taruto-kata katsuyō – “taru, to form conjugation”).

See 形容動詞#「タルト」型活用 for discussion in Japanese. Historically, these developed in Late Old Japanese as a variant of na-adjectives, but the form mostly died out; the remaining taru-adjectives are fossils, and conjugationally defective, having formerly held the pattern of the r-irregular class, like its component あり.

naru-adjectives

There are also a few -adjectives such as 単なる (, "mere, simple") or 聖なる (seinaru, "holy"), which developed similarly to taru-adjectives. As with taru-adjectives, these cannot predicate or take the copula, but must modify a noun (though generally not a verb – many of these only modify nouns via なる, not verbs via ×に), and often occur in set phrases, such as . In Late Old Japanese, tari-adjectives developed as a variant of nari-adjectives. Most nari-adjectives became na-adjectives in Modern Japanese, while tari-adjectives either died out or survived as taru-adjective fossils, but a few nari adjectives followed a similar path to the tari-adjectives and became naru-adjective fossils. They are generally classed into attributives.

Attributives

Attributives are few in number, and unlike the other words, are strictly limited to modifying nouns. Attributives never predicate sentences. They derive from other word classes, and so are not always given the same treatment syntactically. For example, ano (あの, "that") can be analysed as a noun or pronoun あ (a) plus the genitive ending の (no); aru (ある or 或る, "a certain"), (さる, "a certain"), and (いわゆる, "so-called") can be analysed as verbs (iwayuru being an obsolete passive form of the verb iu (言う) "to speak"); and ōkina (大きな, "big") can be analysed as the one remaining form of the obsolete adjectival noun . Attributive (同じ, "the same") is sometimes considered to be an attributive, but it is usually analysed as simply an irregular adjectival verb (note that it has an adverbial form ). The final form , which occurs with the copula, is usually considered to be a noun, albeit one derived from the adjectival verb.

It can be seen that attributives are analysed variously as nouns, verbs, or adjectival nouns.

Archaic forms

Various archaic forms from Middle Japanese remain as fossils, primarily uses of or forms that in Modern Japanese would usually be . Everyday examples notably include and – in modern grammar and , respectively. Similarly, uses archaic forms of and .

Inflection

i-adjective

i-adjectives have a basic inflection created by dropping the 〜い (-i) from the end and replacing it with the appropriate ending. i-adjectives are made more polite by the use of Template:Nihongo krt. です is added directly after the inflected plain form and has no syntactic function; its only purpose is to make the utterance more polite (see Honorific speech in Japanese).

	present	past	present neg.	past neg.
i-adjective	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt
polite i-adj.	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt

Template:Nihongo krt is a special case because it comes from the adjective Template:Nihongo krt. In present tense, it is read as Template:Nihongo krt, but since it derives from Template:Nihongo krt, all of its inflections supplete its forms instead. For example, Template:Nihongo krt becomes Template:Nihongo krt. Template:Nihongo krt also fits the same category because it is a mash-up of Template:Nihongo krt and Template:Nihongo krt.

Template:Nihongo krt-adjectives like Template:Nihongo krt have the Template:Nihongo krt changed to Template:Nihongo krt to change them to conditional form, e.g., Template:Nihongo krt; Template:Nihongo krt.

i-adjectives have a full verb inflection paradigm created through contraction with the former copular verb Template:Nihongo krt, consisting of six verb bases, that obeys the grammar surrounding verbs in Japanese. The usage of the full inflection is more limited in Modern Japanese and the majority of adjective usage in Japanese will be within the bounds of the basic inflection above. Auxiliary verbs are attached to some of the verb bases in order to convey information; only the terminal, attributive, and imperative bases are used on their own without auxiliary support.

Irrealis (Template:Nihongo krt)	Continuative (Template:Nihongo krt)	Terminal (Template:Nihongo krt)	Attributive (Template:Nihongo krt)	Hypothetical (Template:Nihongo krt)	Imperative (Template:Nihongo krt)
Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt

The two irrealis stems, Template:Nihongo krt and Template:Nihongo krt, are used for different purposes. The 〜かろ stem is used to create the volitional inflection by appending the volitional auxiliary Template:Nihongo krt, e.g. Template:Nihongo krt, while the 〜から stem is used for the formal negation auxiliary Template:Nihongo krt and all other purposes which require the irrealis stem, e.g., Template:Nihongo krt.

The volitional form is generally used to convey supposition or presumption; there are also set phrases which utilize this form, a notable example being the volitional form of Template:Nihongo krt, Template:Nihongo krt, a formal or archaic expression for "very well" or "it would be best to..." and the volitional form of Template:Nihongo krt, Template:Nihongo krt, a formal or archaic expression for "probably not so".

The imperative form is rarely used outside of set expressions; a common usage is once again with Template:Nihongo krt, and its imperative form Template:Nihongo krt, in idiomatic set expressions like Template:Nihongo krt or Template:Nihongo krt, also making use of the imperative form of Template:Nihongo krt. The imperative form of Template:Nihongo krt, Template:Nihongo krt, is also used in archaic speech to indicate prohibition or a command not to do something or to indicate that one must not do something (also spelled Template:Nihongo krt, Template:Nihongo krt, Template:Nihongo krt).

na-adjective

na-adjectives have a basic inflection created by dropping the 〜な (-na) and replacing it with the appropriate form of the verb だ (da), the copula. As with i-adjectives, na-adjectives are also made more polite by the use of Template:Nihongo krt. です is used in its role as the polite form of the copula, therefore replacing だ (the plain form of the copula) in the plain form of these adjectives.

	present	past	present neg.	past neg.
na-adjective	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt
polite na-adj.	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt

Template:Nihongo krt-adjectives have Template:Nihongo krt added to them to change to conditional form, and just like all other Template:Nihongo krt form inflections, behave like an Template:Nihongo krt-adjective when in negative form, e.g., Template:Nihongo krt.

Because na-adjectives are simply suffixed with the copula だ, they, too, like i-adjectives, have a full verb inflection paradigm with six bases that obeys the grammar surrounding Japanese verbs.

Irrealis (Template:Nihongo krt)	Continuative (Template:Nihongo krt)	Terminal (Template:Nihongo krt)	Attributive (Template:Nihongo krt)	Hypothetical (Template:Nihongo krt)	Imperative (Template:Nihongo krt)
Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt

Similarly to i-adjectives, out of the multiple irrealis stems, the Template:Nihongo krt irrealis stem is only used with the volitional auxiliary suffix Template:Nihongo krt, to form the volitional form suffixed with volitional copula Template:Nihongo krt, used primarily to present a supposition or presumption. The Template:Nihongo krt irrealis stem is not considered a true irrealis stem because it is simply the continuative stem plus the case particle Template:Nihongo krt, but is nevertheless suffixied with standard negation auxiliary Template:Nihongo krt to form the negative form (see the basic inflection above). The Template:Nihongo krt irrealis stem is used with the formal negation auxiliary Template:Nihongo krt and all other uses of the irrealis stem.

The Template:Nihongo krt attributive form exists as a fossil from the archaic Template:Nihongo krt, or nari-conjugation, the precursor to the modern na-adjective. Generally only the Template:Nihongo krt form is used for attribution, but the Template:Nihongo krt form may be used to add a sense of stress, intensity, profundity, formality, or an imitation of archaic speech, such as Template:Nihongo krt, as compared to Template:Nihongo krt. It may also be seen in set phrases, like in Template:Nihongo krt, used to open and address a letter to someone, much like English dear.

The Template:Nihongo krt attributive form is also used in -adjectives, like Template:Nihongo krt or Template:Nihongo krt. In almost all cases, these are used exclusively as pre-noun attributives and cannot be used in any of the other standard forms of -adjectives. In Modern Japanese, they only serve to modify nouns and cannot be used terminally nor even adverbially, as a contrast with the similar -adjectives. It is generally considered ungrammatical or unnatural to use other forms with -adjectives, even if technically syntactically correct.

taru-adjective

taru-adjectives have much more limited usage in Modern Japanese and generally can only be used attributively with Template:Nihongo krt or adverbially with Template:Nihongo krt. Generally, to express past or negative forms, additional other words or syntax are added to the sentence rather than using the full verb paradigm. However, nevertheless, taru-adjectives do have a full verb paradigm with six bases that obeys the grammar surrounding verbs in Japanese, which may be used in archaic or highly formal speech.

Irrealis (Template:Nihongo krt)	Continuative (Template:Nihongo krt)	Terminal (Template:Nihongo krt)	Attributive (Template:Nihongo krt)	Hypothetical (Template:Nihongo krt)	Imperative (Template:Nihongo krt)
Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt	Template:Nihongo krt

The terminal form Template:Nihongo krt is almost never used. Generic words like Template:Nihongo krt, Template:Nihongo krt, Template:Nihongo krt, and Template:Nihongo krt are used as fill-ins with the attributive form instead.

Adverb forms

Both i-adjectives and na-adjectives can form adverbs. In the case of i-adjectives, Template:Nihongo krt changes to Template:Nihongo krt:

Template:Nihongo krt

and in the case of na-adjectives, Template:Nihongo krt changes to Template:Nihongo krt:

Template:Nihongo krt

There are also some words like Template:Nihongo krt and Template:Nihongo krt that are adverbs in their root form:

Template:Nihongo krt

	adverb
i-adjective	Template:Nihongo krt
na-adjective	Template:Nihongo krt
taru-adjective	Template:Nihongo krt

In a few cases, a Template:Nihongo krt form of a word is common while a Template:Nihongo krt form is rare or non-existent, as in Template:Nihongo krtTemplate:SndTemplate:Nihongo krt is common, but Template:Nihongo krt is generally not used.

Terminology

This page	Japanese (kanji)	Japanese (rōmaji)	Other names
adjectival verbs	形容詞	keiyōshi	adjectival verbs, i-adjectives, adjectives, stative verbs
adjectival nouns	形容動詞	keiyōdōshi	adjectival nouns,Template:Efn na-adjectives, copular nouns, quasi-adjectives, nominal adjectives, adjectival verbsTemplate:Efn
attributives	連体詞	rentaishi	attributives, true adjectives, prenominals, pre-noun adjectivals

The Japanese word keiyōshi is used to denote an English adjective.

Because the widespread study of Japanese is still relatively new in the Western world, there are no generally accepted English translations for the above parts of speech, with varying texts adopting different sets, and others extant not listed above.

The current terms as accepted in schools (see w:ja:学校文法) for adjectival words are and . Here, refers to the semantic aspect of these words as qualifying the state or condition of a "noun;" and , etymologically and historically, refers to (1) conjugative words in general ("i-adjectives," "na-adjectives," "verbs" and "auxiliary verbs"), (2) conjugative words with ichidan, nidan, yodan, godan and irregular conjugation ("verbs" and "auxiliary verbs"), or (3) conjugative words that semantically convey action ("verbs").

Historically, most grammarians used keiyōshi the same way it is used today in schools, as a specific type of word that qualifies "nouns" and that corresponds to what is known to foreign learners today as "i-adjectives" (see Template:Section link for detail). However, a few, under the influence of European grammatical traditions, deviated from this norm and considered these so-called "adjectives" a subclass of dōshi. The grammarian Matsushita Daizaburō used the term for "i-adjectives,"Template:Efn and reserved keiyōshi, as well as its English translation adjective, specifically for any non-conjugative words that can be placed in front of a "noun," which correspond to attributive adjectives in English (he later switched to to avoid confusion). Ōtsuki Fumihiko, while still following the mainstream terminology in his own grammar, expressed his opinion that Japanese "adjectives," due to their affinity with "verbs," are not at all like adjectives in English, Latin, French, German, etc., and suggested keiyō dōshi as an alternative term like Matsushita. The "attributive adjective" sense was applied in a different way by yet other grammarians, such as Hamada Kenjirō and Ōwada Takeki, who used keiyō dōshi for "verb" forms that occur attributively. In sum:

• Most grammarians used keiyōshi for such words as as in and as in . In this case, keiyōshi means "qualifying i-adjectives."
• A few used keiyō dōshi for such words as as in , while reserving keiyōshi for such words as as in . In this case, keiyō dōshi means "qualifying i-adjectives," and keiyōshi means "non-conjugative words that precede nouns."
• Another few used keiyōshi for such words as as in , and keiyō dōshi for such words as as in . In this case, keiyōshi means "words that precede nouns," and keiyō dōshi means "conjugative words that precede nouns and have ichidan, nidan, yodan, godan or irregular conjugation."

The first use of keiyō dōshi for "na-adjectives" is attributed to Haga Yaichi. In this case, keiyō has the same "qualifying" meaning as in keiyōshi ("qualifying i-adjectives"), while dōshi is specifically for the irregular conjugation of the auxiliary copula , which, when fused with the particles and , results in and , both of which correspond to the modern ; in other words, keiyō dōshi means "qualifying conjugative words with irregular conjugation." Haga also included the ending resulting from a fusion of the form of keiyōshi. In sum, according to Haga:

• Keiyō dōshi is used for such words as as in , as in , as in , as in , and as in .

While Haga used keiyō dōshi to describe , Yoshioka Kyōsuke similarly used it to describe . According to him:

• Keiyō dōshi is used for such words as as in , as in , and as in .

Yoshioka did not consider shizuka-da/-desu and shizuka-na as different forms of the same word, but different words, despite the fact that in his analysis, shizuka-da/-desu lacks an attributive form (there is no *), while shizuka-na lacks a terminal form (there is no *).

On the other hand, Hashimoto Shinkichi considered the -kari as merely a keiyōshi ending, separate from -nari and -tari as keiyō dōshi endings. Hashimoto's classification was firmly solidified by Iwabuchi Etsutarō's grammar entitled (1943), the basis for modern school grammar, as well as for the distinction between "i-adjectives" and "na-adjectives" taught to foreign learners. It also popularized for "non-conjugative attributive words." In sum, currently:

• Keiyōshi is used for such words as as in and as in .
• Keiyō dōshi is used for such words as as in and as in .
• Rentaishi is used for such words as as in .

Note that some so-called "naru-adjectives" and all "taru-adjectives" were keiyō dōshi in classical Japanese where they were conjugative (, ; , ), but they are rentaishi in modern Japanese where only their attributive forms survived (; ). Furthermore, a few apparent "na-adjectives" can only occur attributively (, ) and therefore are classified as rentaishi instead.

For other historical terms for these classes of words, see the table at Template:Section link.

See also

• Japanese verb conjugation
• Japanese godan and ichidan verbs
• Japanese grammar

External links

• Why does Japanese have two kinds of adjectives? (-i adjectives and -na adjectives), Boaz Yaniv, 2011 Jun 13, Japanese Language & Usage, Stack Exchange