Ending - Gobi

When a term or auxiliary verb changes its form to show various uses, the part that changes is called the inflectional ending, or simply the ending. For example, the difference in usage between " Read the mainichiasa shinbun" and " Read the shinbun!" is shown by the difference in endings, "-mu" and "-me." The part that does not change is called the stem, in contrast to the ending. Where the stem and ending are separated depends on the researcher's way of thinking and how they organize things. When analyzed in kana, the endings of "read" are "-mi" and "-mu," but when analyzed in romanized letters, they become "(yom)-i" and "(yom)-u," etc.

In the case of literary adjectives, for example, the invariant part of "utsukushi" is "utsukushi," but if that is used as the stem, there will be no ending for the final form, so "utsukushi" is used as the stem and endings such as "( utsukushi )" and "( utsukushiki )" are used. In addition, in the case of " sakaya (liquor store)" and " amagasa (umbrella)," the endings are not considered to be inflections of "sake" and "ame," but rather are considered to be changes in the word base.

[Hideo Suzuki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

用語や助動詞が語形を変えて種々の用法を示すとき、変化する部分を活用語尾、または単に語尾という。たとえば、「毎朝新聞を読む」と「新聞を読め！」との用法の違いは、「―む」「―め」という語尾の違いによって示される。語尾に対し、不変化の部分が語幹とよばれる。どこで語幹と語尾を分けるかは、研究者の考え方や整理の仕方で変わってくる。仮名で分析すれば、「読む」の語尾は「―み」「―む」などであるが、ローマ字で分析すれば、「(yom)―i」「(yom)―u」などとなる。

　文語形容詞の場合、たとえば「美し」では、不変化の部分は「うつくし」であるが、それを語幹とすると終止形の語尾がなくなるので、「うつく」を語幹とし、「（美）し」「（美）しき（人）」などを語尾とする。なお、「さかや（酒屋）」「あまがさ（雨傘）」などの場合は、「さけ」「あめ」の語尾変化とはせず、語基の変化と考える。

［鈴木英夫］

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