| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 吃驚 (rare) 喫驚 (rare) |
Derivation from the びく (biku) root found in other terms such as びくっと (bikutto, “startledly”), びくつく (bikutsuku, “to shiver, as from fright; to startle; to become nervous”). The underlying meaning of the root appears to be twitch or start (noun).[1]
This is one of many adverbs formed by the addition of the suffix り (ri) to the root, and then gemination of the middle consonant. The suffix may derive from the auxiliary verb り (ri), itself from classical verb あり (ari, “is, are”).
*biku → bikuri → bikkuri
The kanji spellings for this term are very rare. The kana spellings びっくり or ビックリ are much more common.
びっくりする or ビックリする • (bikkuri suru) suru (stem びっくりし (bikkuri shi), past びっくりした (bikkuri shita))
| Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mizenkei ("imperfective") | びっくりし | bikkuri shi | ||
| Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | びっくりし | bikkuri shi | ||
| Shūshikei ("terminal") | びっくりする | bikkuri suru | ||
| Rentaikei ("attributive") | びっくりする | bikkuri suru | ||
| Kateikei ("hypothetical") | びっくりすれ | bikkuri sure | ||
| Meireikei ("imperative") | びっくりせよ¹ びっくりしろ² |
bikkuri seyo¹ bikkuri shiro² | ||
| Key constructions | ||||
| Passive | びっくりされる | bikkuri sareru | ||
| Causative | びっくりさせる びっくりさす |
bikkuri saseru bikkuri sasu | ||
| Potential | びっくりできる | bikkuri dekiru | ||
| Volitional | びっくりしよう | bikkuri shiyō | ||
| Negative | びっくりしない | bikkuri shinai | ||
| Negative continuative | びっくりせず | bikkuri sezu | ||
| Formal | びっくりします | bikkuri shimasu | ||
| Perfective | びっくりした | bikkuri shita | ||
| Conjunctive | びっくりして | bikkuri shite | ||
| Hypothetical conditional | びっくりすれば | bikkuri sureba | ||
| ¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative | ||||