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I read in a Japanese tale (kachikachi yama) :

An old man (a peasant) is happy since he just catched a tanuki and says to his wife :

「それじゃ ちょっくら まちへ かいものに いってくるから たぬきが にげださんように きをつけておくれ。」

translation from Tom Ray and Sachiko Matsubara :

"I will go to the town for a little while to shop and return please be careful that the raccoon does not run away."

ちょっくら is analysed as ちょっと (a "country form").

I analyse にげださんように as 逃げる【にげる】(run away) + ださん + ように. I don't understand ださん (or maybe たさん ?) : is this a verbal form ? I read here that : "ださん = do not begin" .

Any help would be appreciated !

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「[逃]{に}げ[出]{だ}さん」＝「逃げ出さない」 = "not run away"

「ん」 is a negation auxiliary verb. The dictionary form is 「ぬ」.

See ぬ[助動] in https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%AC-593884#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88

「～～ように」 means "so that ~~".

「たぬきが逃げ出さんように」 = "so that the racoon will not run away".

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  • Thank you very much. May I ask you if 逃げ出さないように exist ?
    – suizokukan
    Mar 17, 2015 at 14:36
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    Yes, it does. Historically, ぬ/ん is just older than ない.
    – user4032
    Mar 17, 2015 at 14:53
  • Thank you. Reïko Shimamori (Grammaire japonaise systématique, II.156) explains exactly what you said and adds that "-n is often used in the West side of the Japanese archipelago".
    – suizokukan
    Mar 17, 2015 at 21:20

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