Questions about any aspect of Japanese where there is a common rule which has a few exceptions, such as the irregular verbs.
Questions tagged [irregularities-exceptions]
26 questions
67
votes
1 answer
Why are the particles "は" (ha⇒wa), "へ" (he⇒e), and "を" (wo⇒o) not spelled phonetically?
As far as I know only three words (or particles) have irregular, non-phonetic spelling in Japanese:
"は" - The topic particle is pronounced "wa" but the kana is otherwise pronounced "ha"
"へ" - The movement towards particle is pronounced "e" but the…
hippietrail
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27
votes
2 answers
Why is it なさそう and not なそう
"It seems there is none" is なさそう, which escapes the usual rule for 形容詞 (イ-adjectives), which says "drop the い and add そう".
Is there a historical explanation for this exception? And does it have anything to do with なさいません?
Earthliŋ
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17
votes
2 answers
Exceptional compounding forms
There are a number of Japanese words which have distinct compounding forms:
-a/-e alternation: 天・雨、酒、上、風、目 — many examples.
-u/-i alternation: 神（[神]{かむ}[集]{つど}ふ）、月（[月]{つく}[読]{よみ}）
-o/-i alternation: 木（[木]{こ}の[葉]{は}）、火（炎【ほのほ】）
-a/-o alternation:…
Zhen Lin
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16
votes
2 answers
Why isn't ある's negative form あらない?
ある is listed in dictionaries as having ラ行五段活用, which would suggest a negative form of あらない. However, that form does not exist. Why not?
senshin
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14
votes
2 answers
Irregularity of あ-series in demonstratives
Why is the あ-series in demonstratives irregular like the following:
ここ そこ あ そこ どこ
(expected あこ)
こう そう あ あ どう
(expected あう)
Is it related to the fact that こ, そ, ど all end with the vowel "o", and あ ends with the…
user458
14
votes
2 answers
Why is the stroke order of も peculiar?
In most hiragana the horizonal stokes are drawn first, but も is an exception. Is there any reason for this?
user1009
14
votes
2 answers
What are some well known exceptions for 居る (いる) and 有る (ある)?
Today I heard 人形がいる, so I googled around because I thought 居る was only for living things, but I found many examples of this usage. Many for 人形がある as well.
Are there other exceptions for いる／ある？
Louis Waweru
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11
votes
3 answers
Are there more irregular verbs like 行く?
I thought when you have a consonant-stem verb ending with -ku you replace it with -ita. For example kaku ("to write") becomes kaita.
But this doesn't happen with iku, which becomes itta, so I guess that makes it irregular – are there any other such…
Enigmatic Wang
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9
votes
2 answers
Can 々 stand for a duplicated kanji with a different reading?
The title may not be so clear, here is what I mean:
々 is used to avoid repeating a kanji. In some cases, the two may not be pronounced the same because the first consonant of the second kanji is voiced (e.g. [時]{とき}[々]{どき}), but they still have the…
Mathieu Bouville
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9
votes
1 answer
Etymology of the irregularities in day-of-the-month numerals
It is of course well known that the numbers used to count days are based on the Japonic numerals, but with a bunch of irregularities when compared to the つ-numbers. Compare
1 ひとつ ついたち
2 ふたつ ふつか
3 みっつ みっか
4 よっつ よっか
5 いつつ いつか
6 むっつ むいか
7…
Sascha Baer
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8
votes
1 answer
Why are 来る and する irregular?
I know that there are more irregular verbs than just this, but their changes are mostly euphonic and not really of any interest to me. What I would like to know is why 来る and する have developed the way they have. I don't want an answer like "It came…
KingPumpkin
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7
votes
3 answers
Why is 来る spelled with kanji and する is not?
来る and する are two irregular and most commonly used verbs. From my observations, 来る is spelled with kanji. Even though there is a kanji version of する 為る it is usually not used and I wonder why. Are there any cases where the kanji version of する is…
Nutkin
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5
votes
1 answer
Exceptions to kanji readings
あなた can be written in kanji as 貴方.
However, I noticed that no combination of the readings of those two characters is at all similar to the pronunciation they produce together - this is the first time I've seen this.
How common is it that words…
M Palmer
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5
votes
2 answers
For verbs with irregular humble/honorific forms, are the regular forms still used?
There are verbs with irregular humble forms, e.g. the humble form of 借りる is 拝借する.
For these verbs, are the "normal humble conjugations" still used, or considered grammatical?
Would お借りする be acceptable?
Similarly, there are verbs with irregular…
Pacerier
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4
votes
1 answer
On なる and Adverbs
I'm a beginner learner, just learnt about なる and I'm curious about なる vs other verbs when it comes to adverbs.
When using an adverb like 早く on a verb, it modifies the action or manner of the verb. For eg, 早く飲む would mean "drink quickly", or "drink…
typoerrpr
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