見す

Japanese

Kanji in this term
見
め Grade: 1
irregular

Alternative spelling
看す

Etymology

From 見(み) (mi-, the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “conjunctive form”) of verb 見(み)る (miru, “to see”)) + す (-su, an honorific auxilliary).^[1] According to Frellesvig, the mi- shifts to me- due to fusion with a medial -a- element.^[2]

⟨mi₁ asu⟩ → ⟨me₁su⟩ → */mʲesu/ → /mesu/

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [me̞sɨ]

Verb

見(め)す • (mesu) transitive godan (stem 見(め)し (meshi), past 見(め)した (meshita))

(honorific) to see
(honorific) to rule; to govern

Conjugation

Conjugation of "見す" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	見さ	めさ	mesa
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	見し	めし	meshi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	見す	めす	mesu
Rentaikei ("attributive")	見す	めす	mesu
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	見せ	めせ	mese
Meireikei ("imperative")	見せ	めせ	mese
Key constructions
Passive	見される	めされる	mesareru
Causative	見させる見さす	めさせるめさす	mesaseru mesasu
Potential	見せる	めせる	meseru
Volitional	見そう	めそう	mesō
Negative	見さない	めさない	mesanai
Negative continuative	見さず	めさず	mesazu
Formal	見します	めします	meshimasu
Perfective	見した	めした	meshita
Conjunctive	見して	めして	meshite
Hypothetical conditional	見せば	めせば	meseba

Classical conjugation of "見す" (サ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	見さ	めさ	mesa
Continuative (連用形)	見し	めし	mesi
Terminal (終止形)	見す	めす	mesu
Attributive (連体形)	見す	めす	mesu
Realis (已然形)	見せ	めせ	mese
Imperative (命令形)	見せ	めせ	mese
Key constructions
Negative	見さず	めさず	mesazu
Contrasting conjunction	見せど	めせど	mesedo
Causal conjunction	見せば	めせば	meseba
Conditional conjunction	見さば	めさば	mesaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	見しき	めしき	mesiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	見しけり	めしけり	mesikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	見しつ	めしつ	mesitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	見しぬ	めしぬ	mesinu
Perfect-continuative tense	見せり見したり	めせりめしたり	meseri mesitari
Volitional	見さむ	めさむ	mesamu

References

^ “見す”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[1] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
^ Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010) A History of the Japanese Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 62

[1] “見す”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[1] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months

[2] Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010) A History of the Japanese Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 62

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