なり（也,
aux. ra-irr. ラ変) is the literary form for the copula in Japanese. It functions as an auxiliary verb that links the subject of a sentence with the object, directly or indirectly. Its closest English equivalent is, perhaps, the verb 'to be'.
It is the bungo counterpart to the modern Japanese copula
mj. ～だ／～である. It is suffixed to nouns, pseudo-nouns and predicates in the attributive form 連体形.
Usage
Conjugation
なり〔也〕is a ra-irregular verb ラ変動詞 and conjugates as follows:
| 未然刑 |
連用形 |
終止形 |
連体形 |
已然形 |
命令形 |
| なら |
なり |
なり |
なる |
なれ |
なれ |
Suffixation
なり is suffixed to nouns, pseudo-nouns and predicates in the attributive form 連体形.
- Suffixed to a noun, it is a straightforward sentence.
- 彼の人は友なり。 He is a friend. mj. あの人は友だ。
-
A psuedo-noun is a nominalizer that functions like a noun but usually does not stand by itself. Examples are: よう, つもり, はず, こと, etc.
-
行くやうなり。 It seems like he will go. mj. いくようだ。
-
The attributive form 連体形, by prescription, attaches to a noun. When there is no noun following the attributive form, a noun is implied, and なり can be suffixed directly to the predicate and its understood noun.
-
今食ぶるなり。 I will eat now [I assure you]. mj. 今食べるのだ。
Grammatical function
In literary Japanese 文語, the copula なり is a declarative 断定 (だんてい) auxiliary verb. Its principle function is to equate the subject with the object of a sentence, thereby concluding, designating or assigning a state, quality, identity, nature, etc. to the object. なり can equate the subject with the object directly or indirectly.
- Direct equivalence: In its most common usage, なり indentifies the object that is equivalent with and directly linked to the subject.
- 我、父なり。 I am a father.
- 奈良は、古都なり。 Nara is the old capital
- 今は春なり。 Now is spring.
- Indirect equivalence: Often, なり can identify an object in a sentence that is not normally considered an equivalent of the subject, but is linked indirectly through the context of the discourse.
Forms
なり is a contraction of the case particle にand the verb あり (to be). In texts, the two froms are used interchangeably and there is little to indicate a syntactic or semantic reason for using one or the other. Broadly speaking, It is similar to the distinction made in modern Japanese between ～だ and ～である.
- 水なり ＝ 水だ
- 水にあり ＝ 水である
- ゆく川の流れは絶えずしてしかももとの水にあらず。<方丈記>
- The flow of the running river is constant, and yet it is not the same water.
- In the Hōjōki, Kamo no Chōmei could have ended this sentence with 水ならず, but opted to use 水にあらず. There is no syntactic or semantic reason discernable for choosing one over the other except, perhaps, for emphsis.
Issues With Form and Meaning
Identical Form, Different Meaning
The above mentioned alternate form, にあり, is identical in structure to the locative particle に and the verb of being あり, which is also a ra-irregular verb ラ変. Context is the only reliable way to distinguish the usage between the two.
- 流るるものは川にあり。That which flows is the river.
- 魚は川にあり。Fish is in the river.
Context does not always help. As the following poem form the Kokinshu demonstrates, there can be difficulties in distinguishing the two.
- あまの原ふりさけみれば春日なる三笠の山にいでし月かも〈古今集・羇旅 406〉
- When I look up to the plains of heaven, the moon that appeared above the mountain of Mikasa of Kasuga
The phrase 春日なる三笠の山 is interpretted differently by different scholars. The distinction is more easily observed in modern translation.
- 春日である三笠の山 mountain of Mikasa that is of Kasuga
- Kubota Shōichirō, KNBZ 12 (Chikuma shobō, 1965);
- 春日にある三笠の山 mountain of Mikasa that is in Kasuga
- Kojima Noriyuki and Arai Eizō, SNKBT 5; Rodd, Kokinshū, A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern; Kubota Shōichirō, et al. Waka kanshō jiten (Tōkyōdō, 1970);
The distinction here is perhaps academic, but grammatically there is a distinction to be made.
Alternate Form and Particle Insertion
In Bungo, the insertion of case particles requires なり to revert to its original form にあり.
- 水なり=水にあり
- 水なり＋も＝ 水にもあり
- 水ならず＋は ＝ 水にはあらず
NOTE: This grammatical requirement is similar to modern Japanese.
- だ ＝ である
- だ＋も ＝ でもある
- だ＋は ＝ ではある
Distinguishing Meaning in Look-alikes
While easily distinguishable, learners of Japanese may confuse the copula なり with the verb 'to become' なる.
In its sentence-final form 終止形 (or dictionary form), the two are easily distinguishable from each other. なり is a ra-irregular ラ変 which must end in り and the verb 'to become' なる is a four-step verb 四段動詞 which ends in る.
The attributive form 連体形 for both are exactly the same: なる. However, in actual usage, they are still easily distiguishable. なり is suffixed directly to the object. The object for なる (to become) requires the object to be marked by the case particle に.
- 春ならば、花咲くべし。If it is spring, flowers should bloom.
- 春にならば、花さくべし。If it becomes spring, flowers should bloom.
The example demonstrates the facility of distinguishing to two verbs.
Differences from the Modern Equivalent である
The equivalence beween the literary なり and modern である can be seen in its grammatical usage and corresponding changes when inserting a case particle as mentioned above. However, they are not exactly the same. While there is no easily discernable semantic or syntactic difference in usage between なり and にあり, there are distinctions to be made in the modern copula both semantically and syntactically.
Semantically, usage can be determined by degrees of politeness or formality.
- だ is informal and direct.
- です is polite. (Probably a contraction of であります)
- である is formal.
There is a syntactic distinction when using the copula in a relative clause. As a rule, the direct form of any predicate should be used for relative clauses, but だ must revert to its original form to modify a noun.
- × 先生だ友達 incorrect usage.
- ○ 先生である友達 Friend who is a teacher.
Modern Usage of なり
なり is still used in modern Japanese in a limited fashion.
A number of fixed phrases retain the original copula in relative clauses.
- 母なる大地 Mother earth
- 母なる自然 Mother nature
- 聖なる土地 Sacred land
This usage is occasionally applied to other phrases.
- 母なる戦い Mother of all battles
- 母なる地球 Mother earth
なり also is used in manga by characters representing or mimicking older eras such as the character Korosuke コロ助 in the manga Kiteretsu daihyakka 「キテレツ大百科」, albeit in often unusual, comedic and incorrect ways.
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