びる

Japanese

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. First cited to the Man'yōshū of circa 759 CE.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Needs reference to older form ぶ, likely connection to む, and possibly even 見る”)

Suffix

びる • (biru) ichidan (stem び (bi), past びた (bita))

(non-productive) to act like (something); to act (in a certain manner)
古(ふる)い (furui, “old”) → 古(ふる)びる (furubiru, “to become old”)

大人(おとな) (otona, “adult”) → 大人(おとな)びる (otonabiru, “to act like an adult”)

Usage notes

Some verbs with this suffix irregularly evolved to godan verbs.
真似(まな) (mana, “imitation”, ancient bound form) → 学(まな)ぶ (manabu, “to learn”)

Conjugation

Conjugation of "びる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	び	bi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	び	bi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	びる	biru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	びる	biru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	びれ	bire
Meireikei ("imperative")	びよ¹ びろ²	biyo¹ biro²
Key constructions
Passive	びられる	birareru
Causative	びさせるびさす	bisaseru bisasu
Potential	びられるびれる³	birareru bireru³
Volitional	びよう	biyō
Negative	びないびぬびん	binai binu bin
Negative continuative	びず	bizu
Formal	びます	bimasu
Perfective	びた	bita
Conjunctive	びて	bite
Hypothetical conditional	びれば	bireba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

References

^ “びる”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of びる – see the following entry.

【ビル】	clipping of ビルディング (birudingu, “(non-residential) building”). bill of sale, invoice banknote, note, draft, coupon, certificate, promissory note A transliteration of the English male given name Bill A transliteration of the German surname Bill

(This term, びる, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)

[1] “びる”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000

びる

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