Most monolingual Japanese dictionaries analyze this as a compound of さ (sa-, beautification prefix) + 多し (maneshi, “many, numerous”). However, the kanji form *さ多し (samaneshi) is not attested.
| Stem forms | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irrealis (未然形) | さまねく さまねから |
samaneku samanekara | ||
| Continuative (連用形) | さまねく さまねかり |
samaneku samanekari | ||
| Terminal (終止形) | さまねし | samanesi | ||
| Attributive (連体形) | さまねき さまねかる |
samaneki samanekaru | ||
| Realis (已然形) | さまねけれ | samanekere | ||
| Imperative (命令形) | さまねかれ | samanekare | ||
| Key constructions | ||||
| Negative | さまねからず | samanekarazu | ||
| Contrasting conjunction | さまねけれど | samanekeredo | ||
| Causal conjunction | さまねければ | samanekereba | ||
| Conditional conjunction | さまねくば | samanekuba | ||
| Past tense (firsthand knowledge) | さまねかりき | samanekariki | ||
| Past tense (secondhand knowledge) | さまねかりけり | samanekarikeri | ||
| Adverbial | さまねく | samaneku | ||
| Without auxiliary verb. With auxiliary verb. | ||||