なり

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
也 (terminal form)
𬼂 (terminal form, cursive, obsolete)
𬻿 (terminal form, cursive, obsolete)

/ni ari/ → /nari/

Contraction of older に (ni, case particle) +‎ あり (ari, “to be, to exist”).

Pronunciation

Verb

なり • (nari) 

  1. (Classical Japanese or literary) the classical copula “to be”, equivalent to modern Japanese である (de aru) or だ (da), or adjective particle な (na)
    偉(い)大(だい)なる我(わ)が祖(そ)国(こく)
    idai naru waga sokoku
    our glorious motherland
Usage notes
  • Attaches to a nominal or the 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of declinables.
  • The 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) of the copula can be spelled in kanji as 也, 𬼂 or 𬻿.
  • The kanji form is usually used to denote a sum of money, e.g. 二千円也 (nisen en nari).
Conjugation
Classical conjugation of "なり" (ナリ活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形) なら nara
Continuative (連用形) に
なり		 ni
nari
Terminal (終止形) なり nari
Attributive (連体形) なる naru
Realis (已然形) なれ nare
Imperative (命令形) なれ nare
Key constructions
Negative ならず narazu
Contrasting conjunction なれど naredo
Causal conjunction なれば nareba
Conditional conjunction ならば naraba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge) なりき nariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge) なりけり narikeri
Adverbial に ni
Without auxiliary verb.
With auxiliary verb.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) of the classical auxiliary verb なり.

Particle

なり • (nari) 

  1. Used when giving an example, without the implication that it might be the best or the only option
    労(ろう)働(どう)局(きょく)になり相(そう)談(だん)したらどうですか？
    Rōdōkyoku ni nari sōdan shitara dō desu ka?
    What about consulting, for example, the Labor Bureau?
  2. ... or ...
    楽(らく)天(てん)なりどこなりで買(か)い物(もの)をする
    Rakuten nari doko nari de kaimono o suru
    to shop at Rakuten or somewhere
Derived terms

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese なり (nari).

Thought to be a contraction of 音 (na, the bound apophonic form of 音 (ne), "sound") +‎ あり (ari, “to be”).

Suffix

なり • (-nari) †-ri

  1. (Classical Japanese) A modal auxiliary verb indicating hearsay or conjecture based on what is heard: it sounds like; it is said that
    • c. 935, 土佐日記
      男(をとこ)もすなる日(にっ)記(き)といふものを、女(をんな)もしてみむとて、するなり。
      Otoko mo sunaru nikki to ifu mono o, onna mo shite mimu tote, suru nari.
      The so-called diaries that men are said to write - now, a woman will try her hand at writing one.
Usage notes
  • This word is morphologically a clitic. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.
  • Attaches to the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) of most inflectable words, but to the 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of ラ行変格活用 (“ra-irregular”) verbs. In the latter case, the final る is usually omitted in writing, e.g. あなり (anari) instead of あるなり (arunari); this is interpreted as unwritten 撥音便 (hatsuonbin), so that あなり (anari) is read as あんなり (annari).
  • Conjectures based on something heard, as opposed to めり (meri) which conjectures based on something seen.
Conjugation
Classical conjugation of "なり" (ラ行変格活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形) -
Continuative (連用形) なり nari
Terminal (終止形) なり nari
Attributive (連体形) なる naru
Realis (已然形) なれ nare
Imperative (命令形) -

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of なり – see the following entries.
【形】2
the shape or form of something
one's clothing and appearance
one's body shape or form
one's circumstances or situation
one's reputation
(following the plain imperfective form (attributive form, 連体形 (rentaikei)) or plain perfective form of a verb) indicates the state of the affixed verb or phrase: compare English just as
(following the plain imperfective form (attributive form, 連体形 (rentaikei)) of an adjective) indicates responding to the affixed adjective: compare English fitting
(following the plain imperfective form (attributive form, 連体形 (rentaikei)) of a verb) indicates the moment of the action occurring: compare English as soon as
(after a verb in the past tense ～た (～た)) ... while ...
following the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of a verb, indicates the state of the affixed verb or phrase: compare English just as
following a noun, indicates a state fitting or becoming to the affixed noun
following a noun, indicates that shape or form: compare English like
Alternative spelling
態
【業】3
(archaic, possibly obsolete) a living, a job, what one does to earn a living
【鳴り】
ringing
(This term, なり, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as なり, see Category:Japanese kanji read as なり.)

Etymology 5

Reading of various words.

Noun

なり • (nari) 

  1. 生り: bearing (of fruits)
  2. 成り, 為り: (shogi) promotion

References

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ^ Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010) A History of the Japanese Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 102
  3. ^ Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010) A History of the Japanese Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 232
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