よう

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Japanese

Etymology 1

For pronunciation and definitions of よう – see the following entries.
【用】2
use (noun)
a task, business, an errand
for the use of, for the purpose of, in case of
【曜】2
sun, moon and stars
day of week
a female given name
【羊】3
a sheep (animal)
【洋】3
an ocean
(by extension, from the sense of across the ocean) the East (Orient) or especially the West (Occident)
a surname
a male or female given name
【葉】3
leaf, needle, blade (of a plant)
a season, an age: a shorter period of time within a longer one
an administration: the period of time during which a certain person holds a certain office
(rare) counter for flat, thin things such as leaves or paper
(by extension) counter for small boats
【陽】3
sun; sunlight; light
yang (in yin-yang)
positive; plus; male
open; overt
yang (in yin-yang)
open (visible space)
【様】3
way, style, appearance
be like, look like, seem like, as if, having the likeness of
(as 様に (yō ni)) I hope; I pray; may
a female given name
【要】4
key, important point
essential piece of something, requirement
【養】4
to raise; to rear; to bring up
to support
【容】5
to hold; to contain
to tolerate; to stand
content; substance
look; appearance
【幼】6
childhood, infancy
a young child
【妖】S
attractive
bewitching
【庸】S
ordinary; commonplace
【揚】S
to raise; to lift
to make well-known; to spread
【揺】S
shaking, swinging, trembling, vibrating
【溶】S
to melt, dissolve, thaw
【腰】S
hips, loins, lower back
【踊】S
to dance
to jump about; to jump up
【擁】S
to embrace; to protect
【謡】S
popular song
【遥】J
far off, distant
【傭】J
hire; employ
【楊】J
willow; poplar; aspen
【耀】J
shine, sparkle, gleam, twinkle
(This term, よう, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as よう, see Category:Japanese kanji read as よう.)

(The following entries are uncreated: 瘍, 窯, 鷹, 夭, 拗, 涌, 痒, 蛹, 熔, 膺, 邀, 鎔.)

Usage notes

Grammaticized 様 (yō) is most likely to be spelled in hiragana.

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of よう – see the following entry.
【酔う】
to get drunk, become intoxicated or inebriated, fall under the influence of alcohol
(figuratively) to become drunk or intoxicated (exhilarated) by something
to get motion sickness (as in carsick, airsick, seasick, etc.)
to get addicted
(archaic) to get poisoned (from eating meat or fish)
(archaic) to get distracted by charm
(This term, よう, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
For a list of all kanji read as よう, see Category:Japanese kanji read as よう.)

Etymology 3

/mu/ → /ũ/ → /u/ → (for type 2 (ichidan) and type 3 (irregular) verbs) /joː/

From Classical Japanese suppositional / volitional / hortative suffix む (-mu).

Development

The volitional verb suffix was originally む (mu, /mu/). This regularly shifted to a nasalized /ũ/, which then lost its nasalization and was reinterpreted as regular う (u, /u/) by roughly the Kamakura period (1185–1333).

This suffix grammatically attached to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of the verb. Regular sound changes then gave rise to the modern よう (yō, /joː/) ending, initially via fusion of the vowel sounds, and then by a reanalysis of the resulting fused -yō as the suffix to be added to the mizenkei stem. This reformulation as verb stem + suffix -yō started in the late Muromachi period (1336–1573) and continued through the Edo period in 1603–1868).

  • 上一段活用 (kami ichidan, “upper monograde”) verbs with mizenkei stems ending in -i:
見む (mimu, /mimu/) → 見う (miu, /miu/) → 見う (myō, /mjoː/) → 見よう (miyō, /mijoː/)
  • 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan, “lower monograde”) verbs with mizenkei stems ending in -e:
上げむ (agemu, /aɡemu/) → 上げう (ageu, /aɡeu/) → 上げう (agyō, /aɡjoː/) → 上げよう (ageyō, /aɡejoː/)
  • The irregular verb する (suru) underwent further changes. The classical mizenkei stem ended in -e, and せ (se) in classical Japanese was pronounced more as she. Around the same time that the fused shō was separating again into a verb stem + suffix, the mizenkei stem shifted to end in i:
せむ (shemu, /ɕemu/) → せう (sheu, /ɕeu/) → せう (shō, /ɕoː/) → しよう (shiyō, /ɕijoː/)
  • The irregular verb 来る (kuru) has a mizenkei stem ending in -o. This stem includes no front-vowel sound like /e/ or /i/ that might produce the palatal glide in /joː/, and here, the final -yō arose as a parallel construction with the above verb paradigms:
来む (komu, /komu/) → 来う (kou, /kou/) → 来う (kō, /koː/) → 来よう (koyō, /kojoː/)

Meanwhile, for regular classical 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) verbs, the mizenkei stem ends in -a. This ultimately fused with the -u suffix form to produce -ō, resulting in the modern regular 五段活用 (godan katsuyō, “quintigrade conjugation”).

行かむ (ikamu, /ikamu/) → 行かう (ikau, /ikau/) → 行かう (ikau, /ikɔː/) → 行こう (ikō, /ikoː/)

Pronunciation

Suffix

よう • (-yō) uninflectable

  1. volitional: expressing one's will or intention to do something
    そろそろ寝(ね)よう。 ― Sorosoro neyō. ― I will go to bed before long.
    美(お)味(い)しいものを食(た)べようと思(おも)っています。
    Oishii mono o tabeyō to omotte imasu.
    I'm thinking I will eat something delicious.
  2. hortative: inducing or stimulating other person to do something
    そうしよう。 ― Sō shiyō. ― Let's do that.
    さあ、始(はじ)めよう。 ― Sā, hajimeyō. ― Let's get started.
  3. volitional: followed by とする (to suru): to try to do; to attempt to do
    人(ひと)に優(すぐ)れようとしています。
    Hito ni sugureyō to shite imasu.
    I am trying to surpass others.
  4. followed by とする (to suru): to be about to do; to be on the verge of doing
    出(で)かけようとした時(とき)、電(でん)話(わ)がかかってきた。
    Dekakeyō to shita toki, denwa ga kakatte kita.
    I got a phone call when I was about to go out.
  5. (archaic, formal) suppositional: expressing what is likely the case
    Synonyms: だろう (darō), でしょう (deshō)
    問(もん)題(だい)はないと言(い)えよう。
    Mondai wa nai to ieyō.
    We can probably say that there is no problem.
  6. (followed by が (ga) or と (to), often in parallel) whether … or …
    • Blog｜細井厚子の万華鏡｜透明な花
      その願(ねが)いが叶(かな)うなら、私(わたし)の万(まん)華(げ)鏡(きょう)がオモチャと呼(よ)ばれようが、ガラクタと呼(よ)ばれようが、そんなことはどうでもいいと思(おも)っています。
      Sono negai ga kanau nara, watashi no mangekyō ga omocha to yobareyō ga, garakuta to yobareyō ga, sonna koto wa dō de mo ii to omotte imasu.
      I don't think I will be concerned whether my kaleidoscope is called a toy or rubbish, as long as that wish is fulfilled.
Usage notes

Attaches only to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of type 2 (ichidan) and type 3 (irregular) verbs.

Inflection rules for the よう form
Word dictionary form mizenkei + -yō
(modern and historical kana)
ichidan verbs (type 2)
起きる おきる (òkíꜜrù) おきよう (òkíyóꜜò)
開ける あける (àkérú) あけよう (àkéyóꜜò)
irregular verbs (type 3)
来る くる (kúꜜrù) こよう (kòyóꜜò)
する する (sùrú) しよう (shìyóꜜò)

The volitional form of type 1 (godan) verbs are formed with う (-u) instead of よう (-yō), with further sound changes.

In traditional Japanese grammar, this is a 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”), with the sole form よう (yō) as the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and the 連体形 (rentaikei, “adnominal form”). Morphologically, this is an uninflecting inflectional suffix attaching to the stem of vowel-stem verbs.

See also

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Interjection

よう • (yō) 

  1. A very informal greeting similar to yo.
    よう、元(げん)気(き)？
    Yō, genki?
    Yo! Howdy?
  2. A very informal (rude) interjection similar to hey.
    よう、待(ま)てよ。
    Yō, mateyo.
    Hey, wait.
Usage notes

Women or gentlemen generally use ねえ (nē) instead of よう (yō). よう (yō) is masculine but gives a rude impression at times; ねえ (nē) is more graceful.

Synonyms

Etymology 5

Alternative spelling
良う

ウ音便 (u-onbin) of Standard Japanese 良(よ)く (yoku).

Pronunciation

Adjective

よう • (yō) 

  1. Alternative form of よく (yoku)
    よう来(き)たな。
    Yō kita na.
    (please add an English translation of this example)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
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