初める

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
初
そ
Grade: 4
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese 初む (somu), in the 下(しも)二(に)段(だん)活(かつ)用(よう) (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) pattern. Cognate with 染(そ)める (someru, “to dye”, when used as an auxiliary, “to do deeply or thoroughly”).[1][2][3][4]

Development

Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下(しも)二(に)段(だん)活(かつ)用(よう) (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下(しも)一(いち)段(だん)活(かつ)用(よう) (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) そめる [sòméꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])
  • IPA(key): [so̞me̞ɾɯ̟]

Verb

初(そ)める • (someru) transitive or intransitive ichidan (stem 初(そ)め (some), past 初(そ)めた (someta))

  1. (literary) to begin, to start
    Synonym: 始める (hajimeru)
Conjugation
Conjugation of "初める" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 初め そめ some
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 初め そめ some
Shūshikei ("terminal") 初める そめる someru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 初める そめる someru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 初めれ そめれ somere
Meireikei ("imperative") 初めよ¹
初めろ² 		そめよ¹
そめろ² 		someyo¹
somero²
Key constructions
Passive 初められる そめられる somerareru
Causative 初めさせる
初めさす 		そめさせる
そめさす 		somesaseru
somesasu
Potential 初められる
初めれる³ 		そめられる
そめれる³ 		somerareru
somereru³
Volitional 初めよう そめよう someyō
Negative 初めない
初めぬ
初めん 		そめない
そめぬ
そめん 		somenai
somenu
somen
Negative continuative 初めず そめず somezu
Formal 初めます そめます somemasu
Perfective 初めた そめた someta
Conjunctive 初めて そめて somete
Hypothetical conditional 初めれば そめれば somereba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
初
はじ
Grade: 4
kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 初める – see the following entry.
【始はじめる】
[verb] to begin, to start, to initiate
[verb] (following the continuative of a verb) to start doing, to begin
Alternative spelling
創める
(This term, 初める, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

  1. ^ “初”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  4. ^ “初める”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
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