ばける

See also: はける and はげる

Japanese

Alternative spelling
化ける

Etymology

First cited to the Iroha Jiruishō of circa 1177-81.^[1]

This word has an initial voiced consonant, which is not regular in native Japanese words, and might be a shift from another verb.

The Meigentsū and the Gengentei derive this from 計る (hakaru, “to measure”),^[1] presumably via a hak- root.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ばける [bàkéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [ba̠ke̞ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 化ける

Plain	化ける	ばける	`[bàkéꜜrù]`
Conjunctive	化けて	ばけて	`[báꜜkètè]`
Perfective	化けた	ばけた	`[báꜜkètà]`
Negative	化けない	ばけない	`[bàkéꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	化けなかった	ばけなかった	`[bàkéꜜnàkàttà]`
Hypothetical conditional	化ければ	ばければ	`[bàkéꜜrèbà]`
Past conditional	化けたら	ばけたら	`[báꜜkètàrà]`
Imperative	化けろ化けよ	ばけろばけよ	`[bàkéꜜrò]` `[bàkéꜜyò]`
Volitional	化けよう	ばけよー	`[bàkéyóꜜò]`
Desiderative	化けたい	ばけたい	`[bàkétáꜜì]`
Formal	化けます	ばけます	`[bàkémáꜜsù]`
Formal negative	化けません	ばけません	`[bàkémáséꜜǹ]`
Formal volitional	化けましょう	ばけましょー	`[bàkémáshóꜜò]`
Formal perfective	化けました	ばけました	`[bàkémáꜜshìtà]`
Continuative	化け化けに	ばけばけに	`[báꜜkè]` `[báꜜkè nì]`
Negative continuative	化けず化けずに	ばけずばけずに	`[bàkéꜜzù]` `[bàkéꜜzù nì]`
Passive	化けられる	ばけられる	`[bàkéráréꜜrù]`
Causative	化けさせる化けさす	ばけさせるばけさす	`[bàkésáséꜜrù]` `[bàkésáꜜsù]`
Potential	化けられる化けれる	ばけられるばけれる	`[bàkéráréꜜrù]` `[bàkéréꜜrù]`

Verb

ばける • (bakeru) intransitive ichidan (stem ばけ (bake), past ばけた (baketa))

Japanese verb pair
active	化かす
mediopassive	ばける

to change oneself into, to transform oneself into, to take the form of
女(おんな)に化(ば)けた猫(ねこ)
onna ni baketa neko
a cat that has changed into a woman
to disguise oneself, to appear in disguise
to change for the worse, to corrupt

Conjugation

Conjugation of "ばける" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	ばけ	bake
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	ばけ	bake
Shūshikei ("terminal")	ばける	bakeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	ばける	bakeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	ばけれ	bakere
Meireikei ("imperative")	ばけよ¹ ばけろ²	bakeyo¹ bakero²
Key constructions
Passive	ばけられる	bakerareru
Causative	ばけさせるばけさす	bakesaseru bakesasu
Potential	ばけられるばけれる³	bakerareru bakereru³
Volitional	ばけよう	bakeyō
Negative	ばけないばけぬばけん	bakenai bakenu baken
Negative continuative	ばけず	bakezu
Formal	ばけます	bakemasu
Perfective	ばけた	baketa
Conjunctive	ばけて	bakete
Hypothetical conditional	ばければ	bakereba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

Derived terms

化(ば)け猫(ねこ) (bakeneko): ghostly cat
化(ば)け物(もの) (bakemono): goblin, apparition
化(ば)けもの (bakemono):goblin, apparition
お化(ば)け (obake): goblin, apparition
ふける (fukeru)

Related terms

化(ば)かす (bakasu)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 “ば・ける【化】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN