初める
Japanese
Etymology 1
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 初 |
| そ Grade: 4 |
| kun'yomi |
From Old Japanese 初む (somu), in the 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) pattern. Cognate with 染める (someru, “to dye”, when used as an auxiliary, “to do deeply or thoroughly”).[1][2][3][4]
Development
Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.
Pronunciation
Verb
初める • (someru) transitive or intransitive ichidan (stem 初め (some), past 初めた (someta))
Conjugation
Conjugation of "初める" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
| Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mizenkei ("imperfective") | 初め | そめ | some | |
| Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | 初め | そめ | some | |
| Shūshikei ("terminal") | 初める | そめる | someru | |
| Rentaikei ("attributive") | 初める | そめる | someru | |
| Kateikei ("hypothetical") | 初めれ | そめれ | somere | |
| Meireikei ("imperative") | 初めよ¹ 初めろ² |
そめよ¹ そめろ² |
someyo¹ somero² | |
| Key constructions | ||||
| Passive | 初められる | そめられる | somerareru | |
| Causative | 初めさせる 初めさす |
そめさせる そめさす |
somesaseru somesasu | |
| Potential | 初められる 初めれる³ |
そめられる そめれる³ |
somerareru somereru³ | |
| Volitional | 初めよう | そめよう | someyō | |
| Negative | 初めない 初めぬ 初めん |
そめない そめぬ そめん |
somenai somenu somen | |
| Negative continuative | 初めず | そめず | somezu | |
| Formal | 初めます | そめます | somemasu | |
| Perfective | 初めた | そめた | someta | |
| Conjunctive | 初めて | そめて | somete | |
| Hypothetical conditional | 初めれば | そめれば | somereba | |
| ¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential | ||||
Derived terms
- 初め (-zome)
Etymology 2
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 初 |
| はじ Grade: 4 |
| kun'yomi |
| For pronunciation and definitions of 初める – see the following entry. | ||
| ||
| (This term, 初める, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
References
- ^ “初”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten][1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
- ^ “初める”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen][2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months