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I have come across this grammar a lot lately:

連用形+ゆる

For example, in this comment,

文語と現代語を交じたる文はインターネットで見ゆるなあ

I've also heard しゆる. Judging from the context I think that this grammar is similar to the potential form. So 見ゆる is basically 見える and しゆる is できる.

Am I right? How do the two grammars differ?

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  • Is it perhaps dialect?
    – A.Ellett
    Jul 10, 2017 at 18:23

1 Answer 1

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見ゆ is an archaic ヤ行 verb meaning 見える in modern Japanese. 見ゆる is the attributive form (連体形) of 見ゆ.

In modern Japanese, there is no verb that ends with ゆ, but in archaic Japanese some verbs ended with ゆ.

  • 燃ゆ (=燃える in modern Japanese)
  • 覚ゆ (=覚える in modern Japanese)

Etymologically, yes, ゆ was an archaic auxiliary verb which was used similarly to れる/られる. See ゆ (as a 助動詞) in a 古語辞典.

見ゆ is still occasionally used in titles and such (example), but 見ゆるなあ sounds to me like a strange mixture of modern and archaic Japanese.

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  • Ah ha. So this is not dialect! Nevertheless, I was wondering whether it might be related to える as in みることをえない. Any thoughts on that? (I mean in addition to what you already wrote).
    – A.Ellett
    Jul 10, 2017 at 18:26
  • @A.Ellett Perhaps they are related, but I don't now how. Nevertheless, I somehow felt しゆる should mean the same thing as しうる.
    – naruto
    Jul 10, 2017 at 18:38
  • 得{え}る vs 得{う}る. I always get confused by those two. :-)
    – A.Ellett
    Jul 10, 2017 at 18:41
  • Kana does not have a means to write /ye/, but the relationship is much clearer in romanization. 見ゆる miyuru -> 見える miyeru. As there is no /ye/, the initial /y/ drops out leaving only /e/. The change from /-u-/ to /-e-/ is regular and found in all 下二段 verbs that simplified to 下一段.
    – Dono
    Jul 13, 2017 at 4:16

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