用ひる

First attested in texts around the Kamakura period, persisting until around the script reforms in the 1920s.

The attestable root verb is 用ゐる (mochiwiru), itself a compound (see that entry for details). During the mid-Heian period, medial /-f-/ sounds shifted to /-w-/, leading to confusion between mid-word ゐ (wi) and ひ (wi, read as fi in word-initial position). The もちひる (mochiwiru) hiragana spelling was then reinterpreted as a conjugation of base verb もちふ (mochi(w)u), which appears as a back-formation. Later during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, sound changes reduced medial /-w-/ still further, such that /wi/ merged into /i/. The resulting shift in the verb ending from -wiru to -iru was reinterpreted again as a conjugation of base form もちゆ (mochiyu), which again appears as a back-formation.^[1][2]

用ひ(もちい)る • (mochiiru) ^{←もちひる (motifiru)?}transitive ichidan (stem 用ひ(もちい) (mochii), past 用ひ(もちい)た (mochiita))

1. (archaic, historical, rare) alternative spelling of 用いる (mochiiru), historical 用ゐる (mochiwiru): to use
   • 1940s, Hajime Kawakami, Pillow up in the floating clouds (text here)

     室(しつ)内(ない)の歩(ほ)行(かう)に杖(つゑ)を用(もち)ひず、階(かい)上(じやう)への上(のぼ)り下(くだ)りにも、さまで脚(あし)のだるきを感(かん)ぜず。

     Shitsunai no hokō ni tsue o mochiizu, kaijō e no noborikudari ni mo, sama de ashi no daruki o kanzezu.

     (please add an English translation of this example)

   • 1946, The Constitution of Japan, Article 29:

     私(し)有(ゆう)財(ざい)產(さん)は、正(せい)當(とう)な補(ほ)償(しょう)の下(もと)に、これを公(こう)共(きょう)のために用(もち)ひることができる。

     Shiyūzaisan wa, seitō na hoshō no moto ni, kore o kōkyō no tame ni mochiiru koto ga dekiru.

     Private property may be taken for public use upon just compensation therefor.

• 用(もち)ふ (mochifu)
• 用(もち)ゆ (mochiyu)