An introduction to Japanese - Syntax, Grammar & Language

3.4. CLASSICAL ADJECTIVES 149

3.4 Classical adjectives

This final section is not about how classical adjectives inflect, but is actually
about what happens when we pair modern verbal adjectives with certain

special verbs, such as and

. While these very rarely get used
on their own, there are certain set uses for them, where they pair up with
specific adverbs, derived from verbal adjectives. In these cases, the ad-
verbial form of the verbal adjective actually undergoes a sound change,
leading to perhaps unexpected (but most certainly exceedingly familiar)
constructions:

If the syllable preceding the
” ” is an row syllable, the
adverb gets an sound instead:

becomes [ → ], which contracts to

. As you can see,
the phonetic change is in the kanji here.

becomes [ → ], which contracts to

.

If the syllable preceding the ” ” is an row syllable, the
adverb gets an -glide instead:

becomes [ → ], which contracts to

becomes [ → ], which contacts to

If the syllable preceding the ” ” is an row syllable, the
adverb gets a long :

becomes [ → ], which does not contract and thus stays

If the syllable preceding the ” ” is an row syllable, the
adverb gets a long by virtue of the –row syllable + being a long
sound:

becomes [ → ], which does not contract and thus stays

And hopefully you noticed the first two entries, which are precisely

the ones you may know from the phrases
, translating
to ”good morning”, and , translating to ”thank you
very much”.