Desiderative あらまほし

あらまほしcomp. An expression that combines the imperfect form 未然形 of あり and the desiderative auxiliary verb まほし. Literally, it would mean "to want (something) to exist". In context, it is used as an adjective expressing desire: That which I want.

• すこしの事にも先達はあらまほしきことなり。With regards to even small matters, one wants (the gudance) of predecessors.〔徒然 52〕

Copula なり・也

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'.

• 我、人なり (I am a person). 

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.

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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。

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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. 
• 「我の生まるる所は、江戸なり」「我は、鎌倉なり」

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

• なり copula.
• なる to become.

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.

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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. 

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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.

以上

い 以

いpart. c.

• 筑波嶺のをてもこのもに守部据ゑ母い守れども魂たまぞ合ひにける. Like guards stationed on both sides of Mt. Tsukuba,mother guards me, and yet our souls have met, indeed. 〔万葉〕.


• 青柳の糸のくはしさ春風に乱れぬいまに見せむ子もがも. While the delicate strands of the willows are not yet thrown into confusion by the spring winds, I would have wanted to show it to my girl. 〔万葉〕
  

Note: Predominantly found in pre-Heian texts, it is dentified by some scholars as an archaic subject marker. There are, however, examples when it was used as the object marker を and attributive marker の. As such, it would seem to be a type of emphatic marker indicating that the noun to which it is attched is the most important element in the sentence, similar to topic the marker は in many--but not all--cases. It is believed by some scholars to be related to the Korean particle ｉ.

いpref. Prefixed to verbs for rhythmical balance and/or emphasis.

• い行く
• い通 ふ
• ·野夫といへどもさすがに情知らぬにはあらず。〔奥の細道〕 He was a farmer, and yet contrary to expectations it was not the case that he did not know refinement
  

いへども（雖も; kambun 謂）comp.conj. Suffixed to quotative と, formed from 已然形 of 言ふ＋ども. 1Indicates that the statement that follows is contrary to the logic or common standards of the preceding statement, but with greater emphasis than ど or ども alone. Literally, it means "although one would say"

あり

ありvi. ra-irr. Declarative function.

1. Following the renyōkei of adjectives, negative auxiliary ず (ず form), and conjecture べし (べく from), and others, it indicates that a condition exists or is continuing. MJ ～である, ～している. Its basic function is indicate existence or continuation and is at the root of words such as なり (にあり) and たり(とあり) which are declarative copulas. 
2. When suffixed to conjunctive particles て and つつ, it indicates the continuation of the completion or result of an action.

Comparing colors

Crimson #dc143c	紅 くれなゐ #ca0439
navy #000080	紺色 こんいろ #003a6c
dark slate blue #483d8b	褐色 かちいろ #46485f
lawn green #7cfc00	若緑 わかみどり #7fb80e
yellow green #9acd32	黄緑 きみどり #b2d235
pale green #98fb98	萌黄色 もえぎいろ #a3cf62
lightgreen #90ee90	柳色 やなぎいろ #a8c97f
olive #808000	鶯色 うぐいすいろ #87843b

平家物語・那須 与一

さる程に、阿波・讃岐に平家をそむいて源氏をまちける物ども、あそこの峰、こゝの洞より十四五騎、廿騎うちつれうちつれ参りければ、判官ほどなく三百余騎にぞなりにける。「けふは日暮れぬ、勝負を決すべからず」とて、引退く処に、おきの方より尋常にかざツたる小舟一艘、みぎはへむいてこぎよせけり。磯へ七八段ばかりになりしかば、舟をよこさまになす。「あれはいかに」と見る程に、舟のうちより、よはい十八九ばかりなる女房の、まことにゆうにうつくしきが、柳のいつゝぎぬにくれなゐのはかま着て、みな紅の扇の日出したるを、舟のせがいにはさみ立てて、陸へむひてぞまひたる。

さる程にmeanwhile, lit. while events passed thusly.

阿波（あは）place name.

讃岐（さぬき）place name.

平家（へいけ）pn.

背く（そむ･く）

源氏（げんじ）pn.

峰（みね）

洞（どうくつ）

駒（き）counter for horsemen.

うちつれうちつれ

参る（まゐ･る）

判官（はんかん）Minamoto Yoshitsune and/or his troops.

決す（けつｰす）＝決める.

引退く（ひきｰしりぞ･く）retreat, fall back.

尋常（じんじやう）adj-da. ordinary, common, average.

かざッたる＝かざりたる.

艘（さう）counter for boats.

汀（みぎは）shore, banks.

段（たん）unit of measure, approx. 11 meters.

齢（よはい）age.

いつつぎぬ five-layered robe.

紅（くれなゐ）crimson.

扇（あふぎ）folding fan.

せがい sideboard.

Resources

Here are a couple of sites that may prove fruitful.

Philipine occupation by STNakano, excepts of documents

Kobe University:

• 新聞記事文庫 切抜帳一覧
1. 日本経済事情(大分類：各国経済事情)
2. 東南アジア経済事情(大分類：各国経済事情)
• 東南アジア経済事情(各国経済事情)
• 新聞記事文庫 新聞別一覧
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1. Economics

Changing

Well, I guess this experiment was a big bust. I just don't have the time to do write like I should. And I think everyone else is just as busy.

So I think I will discontinue this site, although I need to start another site for my bungo class seminar. I/we need a place where we can easily go to to gather and exchange information, so this just might be the place since. If you are interested in reading old Japanese documents you are welcome to continue to come by.

As for the literary stuff i will post from time to time, I will continue it when I have time on my jakuren site at Xanga. Sorry for thie inconvenience guys....

日本文学の教室

Okay, I think we'll actually have a Japanese an interactive Japanese literature discussion here... sorta... we'll see how this works...