変身

Japanese

Kanji in this term
へん
Grade: 4
しん
Grade: 3
on'yomi
Alternative spelling
變身 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Probably from Middle Chinese as compound 變身 (MC pjenH syin, “change” + “body; self”). Compare modern Mandarin 變身变身 (biànshēn).

First attested in Japanese in 1060.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

(へん)(しん) • (henshin

  1. [from 1060] a transformation of one's appearance
  2. [from 1060] shapeshifting, a transformation of one's body, particularly of a human into some other creature or form
  3. [from 1060] an appearance or body so transformed

See also

Interjection

(へん)(しん) • (henshin

  1. (fiction) Transform!
    A shout called out when metamorphising into one's powerful alter-ego. Found in tokusatsu, mecha and magical girl fiction.

Verb

(へん)(しん)する • (henshin surusuru (stem (へん)(しん) (henshin shi), past (へん)(しん)した (henshin shita))

  1. to transform one's appearance
  2. to shapeshift, to transform physically into some other creature or form

Conjugation

Conjugation of "変身する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 変身し へんしんし henshin shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 変身し へんしんし henshin shi
Shūshikei ("terminal") 変身する へんしんする henshin suru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 変身する へんしんする henshin suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 変身すれ へんしんすれ henshin sure
Meireikei ("imperative") 変身せよ¹
変身しろ²
へんしんせよ¹
へんしんしろ²
henshin seyo¹
henshin shiro²
Key constructions
Passive 変身される へんしんされる henshin sareru
Causative 変身させる
変身さす
へんしんさせる
へんしんさす
henshin saseru
henshin sasu
Potential 変身できる へんしんできる henshin dekiru
Volitional 変身しよう へんしんしよう henshin shiyō
Negative 変身しない へんしんしない henshin shinai
Negative continuative 変身せず へんしんせず henshin sezu
Formal 変身します へんしんします henshin shimasu
Perfective 変身した へんしんした henshin shita
Conjunctive 変身して へんしんして henshin shite
Hypothetical conditional 変身すれば へんしんすれば henshin sureba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative

References

  1. ^ 変身”, 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. ^ 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
  4. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN