めり
Japanese
Etymology
Considered by some to be from 見あり (mi-ari) or 見えあり (mie-ari).
Suffix
めり • (-meri)
- A Classical Japanese conjectural auxiliary verb: it looks …; it seems …
- c. 1001–1014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari
- わざとあめるを、早うものせよかし。
- Wazato a meru o, hayō monoseyo kashi.
- It seems to be a special [invitation], so please go early.
- わざとあめるを、早うものせよかし。
- c. 1001–1014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari
Usage notes
- Usually attaches to the shūshikei, but to the rentaikei of ra-hen verbs. In the latter case, the rentaikei ending of ra-hen verbs, る (ru), is usually omitted in writing, resulting in forms such as あめり (ameri) and なめり (nameri). It is usually considered that such forms are actually onbin forms like あんめり (anmeri) and なんめり (nanmeri) with the ん (n) not written.
- Conjectures based on something seen, as opposed to なり (nari) which conjectures based on something heard.
Conjugation
Classical conjugation of "めり" (ラ行変格活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
| Stem forms | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irrealis (未然形) | めら | mera | ||
| Continuative (連用形) | めり | meri | ||
| Terminal (終止形) | めり | meri | ||
| Attributive (連体形) | める | meru | ||
| Realis (已然形) | めれ | mere | ||
| Imperative (命令形) | めれ | mere | ||
| Key constructions | ||||
| Negative | めらず | merazu | ||
| Contrasting conjunction | めれど | meredo | ||
| Causal conjunction | めれば | mereba | ||
| Conditional conjunction | めらば | meraba | ||
| Past tense (firsthand knowledge) | めりき | meriki | ||
| Past tense (secondhand knowledge) | めりけり | merikeri | ||
| Perfect tense (conscious action) | めりつ | meritu | ||
| Perfect tense (natural event) | めりぬ | merinu | ||
| Perfect-continuative tense | めりたり[1] | meritari | ||
| Volitional | めらむ | meramu | ||
| [1]Often proscribed due to a redundancy of having 2 あり. | ||||