已然形

Japanese

Kanji in this term
已	然	形
い Jinmeiyō	ぜん Grade: 4	けい Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いぜんけー [ìzéńkéé] (Heiban – [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [izẽ̞ŋke̞ː]

Noun

已(い)然(ぜん)形(けい) • (izenkei) 

1. (grammar) a verbal inflectional category; the realis form as used in classical Japanese, which indicates that something is already the case, or in the process of happening. This form has evolved into the conditional form in modern Japanese without phonemic change.

Related terms

• 仮定形(かていけい) (kateikei, “conditional”)
• 終止形(しゅうしけい) (shūshikei, “conclusive”)
• 未然形(みぜんけい) (mizenkei, “irrealis”)
• 命令形(めいれいけい) (meireikei, “imperative”)
• 連用形(れんようけい) (ren'yōkei, “adverbial”)
• 連体形(れんたいけい) (rentaikei, “attributive”)

See also

• 仮定形(かていけい) (kateikei, “conditional”)

References

1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

• Shibatani, Masayoshi (1990) The languages of Japan, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 221-224
• Kokugo Dai Jiten Dictionary. Shinsou-ban (Revised edition), Shogakukan, 1988