たり

From the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) of the classical tari below.

たり • (tari) 

1. Shows examples of actions or states.

   テレビを見(み)たり、パソコンをしたりしている。

   Terebi o mitari, pasokon o shitari shite iru.

   I'm (doing things like) watching TV and playing on the computer.

Attaches to the -て stem of verbs, adjectives, and nominals, in the same way as the past/perfective ending た (ta). (The result is segmentally identical to the past/perfective form + ri.)

This word is morphologically an inflectional suffix. It is classified as 助詞 (joshi, “auxiliary word; particle”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

/-te ari/ → /-tari/

Contraction of て (te), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of the classical perfective つ (tsu), and あり (ari, “to be; to exist”).

たり • (-tari) ^†-ri

1. (Classical Japanese) Used to form the stative of verbs.

   時(とき)は来(き)たり！

   Toki wa kitari!

   It's time!

This word is morphologically an inflectional suffix. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

• た (-ta, past or perfective)
• たら (-tara, conditional)
• たり (-tari) (above)

/-to ari/ → /-tari/

Contraction of the case particle と (to) and the verb あり (ari, “to be; to exist”).

たり • (tari) ^†-ri

1. (Classical Japanese or archaic) to be

   処(しょ)女(じょ)たる女(め)神(がみ)

   shojo taru megami

   virgin goddess

   一瞬(いっしゅん)たりともできない

   isshun tari to mo dekinai

   (modern language, literary) cannot do it even for a moment

In modern Japanese, the continuative と (to) or として (to shite) and the adnominal たる (taru) are used with the so-called -tari adjectives.