おる

/woru/ → /oru/

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE^[1] in the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) with the phonetic man'yōgana spelling of 袁理 (⟨wori⟩). Also attested in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.^[2]

Listed in some sources^[3][4] as derived from the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) wi of verb wiru (modern いる (iru)) + ある (aru). The conjugation paradigm for woru is indeed the same as aru for Classical and Old Japanese. However, the resulting compounded *wiaru form would ordinarily become yaru or (w)eru via historical phonetic change, and the vowel shift to /o/ is unexplainable in this hypothesis.

Alternatively, from *wu + ari or *wo + ari, where *wu or *wo is the root of the verb wiru (modern いる (iru), and ari is the Old Japanese form of modern ある (aru).^[5]

• (Tokyo) おる (Atamadaka – )^[4][7]
• (Mishima) おる (Atamadaka – )^[6]
• IPA^(key):

おる • (oru) ^{←をる (woru)?}intransitive godan (stem おり (ori), past おった (otta))

1. (of animate objects) to exist, to be, to have

   むかしあるところに一人(ひとり)の欲(よく)ばりの坊(ぼう)さんがおりました。

   Mukashi aru tokoro ni hitori no yokubari no bōsan ga orimashita.

   Once upon a time, there was a greedy priest somewhere.

2. (after a transitive verb in the て conjunctive form) to be (doing): indicates a progressive or continuous sense; the verb ending -ておる (-te oru) is often contracted to とる (-toru)

   ぼくは眼(め)をほそめて海(うみ)を見(み)ておった

   Boku wa me o hosomete umi o miteotta

   I was staring at the sea with a squinted eye

3. (Chūgoku, Shikoku, Kyūshū, after a verb in the conjunctive form) to be (doing); a continuous sense; often transformed to よる (yoru)

   毎(まい)朝(あさ)、私(わたし)、観(かん)音(のん)様(さま)にお願(がん)を掛(か)けよるんじゃものきっと通(とお)るわ。

   Maiasa, watashi, Kannon-sama ni o-gan o kakeyoru n ja mono kitto tōru wa.

   Since I am making a wish to Kannon every morning, he will certainly pass his exams.

• A variation of いる (iru) used mainly in western Japan.
• In standard Japanese, it is usually used in 謙(けん)譲(じょう)語(ご) (kenjōgo, “humble language”) or 丁(てい)寧(ねい)語(ご) (teineigo, “polite language”) as おります form or in certain archaic/literary expressions.

(The following entries are uncreated: 下る, 愚る.)