We've been having a discussion on the EDICT/JMdict feedback system
about the conjugation of Xする verbs. I want to move it here, as
that system is a bit clunky for proper dialogues.
The issue raise was whether WWWJDIC's tables were correct about the
-さない inflections, which is what I'd been taught (by NSoJs).
That generated page, BTB, had been vetted and cleared by some NSoJ
language teachers too.
Rene commented:
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Yes. I'm close to 100% certain that they're wrong.
They aren't even self-consistent. Like the page assumes that
"愛さない"
uses さ as its -nai stem, but "愛せず" uses せ as
its -nai stem for some reason.
The former is properly attributed to 愛す (v5s), and the
latter to 愛する (vs-s)
or 愛す (vs-s). The ず form of 愛す is 愛さ
ず, which isn't accounted for on the
conjugation page at all. (Even though 愛さず is more common
than 愛せず based on
web hits.)
Compare (the ones with asterisks aren't accounted for on your
conjugation page):
愛せず (from 愛する/愛す vs-s) = 23,500 googits
愛さず (from 愛す v5s) = 141,000 googits*****
愛しよう (from 愛する/愛す vs-s) = 7,520 googits
愛そう (from 愛す v5s) = 141,000 googits (although some
are probably false
positives)*****
愛できる (from 愛する/愛す vs-s) = 2,120 googits
愛せる (from 愛す v5s) = 458,000 googits*****
愛すれば (from 愛する/愛す vs-s) = 82,900 googits
愛せば (from 愛す v5s) = 66,100 googits*****
愛せ brings up too many false positives to make a comparison
with
愛しろ/愛せよ.
Now, Wikipedia and kokugo dictionaries DO list さ as one
possible 未然形
ending for する in modern Japanese:
し(せ・さ)・し・する・する・すれ・しろ(せよ)
So it seems *possible* that you could attribute さない
and さず to する.
However, the さ here seems to be limited to use when creating
the passive
さ-れる and the causative さ-せる.
The ない is always supposed used as し-ない.
Here's the smoking gun, from Meikyo's entry for ない:
【語法】(1)動詞、動詞型活用の助動詞の未然形に付く。サ変
動詞は「し」に付いて
「しない」となる。*****なお、「愛しない」は「愛する
(サ変)」に、「愛さない」は
「愛す(五段)」に付いたもの。*****
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and later:
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One more thing.
I assume that the reason that する is labeled as (vs-s) is
because it was being
considered as having that extra "special" conjugation さない
in the case of things
like 愛する and 介する, but not in the case of regular
(vs) verbs like 勉強する and
表現する. I think it would actually make a lot more sense, and
be more consistent
to flip things around.
If the カ変 verb 来る is tagged (vk), not (vk-s), then
the サ変 verb する should
be (vs), not (vs-s). The (vs-s) tag would actually be better on
things like 勉強
and 表現, since the additional "s" could imply that you have
to "suffix" the
"suru" yourself.
Of course the easier path to consistency would just be to change (vk)
-> (vk-s),
but that seems a little less sensible.
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I'm very tempted to:
(a) for the 愛す, etc. verbs simply call them "v5s". In what
way will they
not conjugate correctly (if at all)?
(b) leave the verb tables as they are for the "vs-s" verbs, but add
a footnote
saying that the "さない", etc. inflections really come from
the す version of the
verb, but thse days many Japanese regard them as part of the
する version. I note
that big JEs such as GG5 simply don't even list 愛す.
Jim
--
Jim Breen
Honorary Senior Research Fellow
Clayton School of Information Technology,
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/