香る

Japanese

Kanji in this term
香
かお Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
薫る馨る (rare)

Etymology

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.^[1] No Ryukyuan cognates exist.

Given the Old Japanese spelling kaworu, this can be analyzable as a compound of Old Japanese elements 香 (ka, “fragrance”) +‎ 居る (oru ← woru, “to have, to exist”).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) かおる [kàórú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [ka̠o̞ɾɯ̟]

Verb

香(かお)る • (kaoru) ^{←かをる (kaworu)^?}intransitive godan (stem 香(かお)り (kaori), past 香(かお)った (kaotta))

[from 720] have a fragrance or pleasant scent, be fragrant
[from c. 898–901] to smell good
[from c. 898–901] to be beautiful of the face (especially the eyes)

Conjugation

Conjugation of "香る" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	香ら	かおら	kaora
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	香り	かおり	kaori
Shūshikei ("terminal")	香る	かおる	kaoru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	香る	かおる	kaoru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	香れ	かおれ	kaore
Meireikei ("imperative")	香れ	かおれ	kaore
Key constructions
Passive	香られる	かおられる	kaorareru
Causative	香らせる香らす	かおらせるかおらす	kaoraseru kaorasu
Potential	香れる	かおれる	kaoreru
Volitional	香ろう	かおろう	kaorō
Negative	香らない	かおらない	kaoranai
Negative continuative	香らず	かおらず	kaorazu
Formal	香ります	かおります	kaorimasu
Perfective	香った	かおった	kaotta
Conjunctive	香って	かおって	kaotte
Hypothetical conditional	香れば	かおれば	kaoreba

Classical conjugation of "香る" (ラ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	香ら	かをら	kawora
Continuative (連用形)	香り	かをり	kawori
Terminal (終止形)	香る	かをる	kaworu
Attributive (連体形)	香る	かをる	kaworu
Realis (已然形)	香れ	かをれ	kawore
Imperative (命令形)	香れ	かをれ	kawore
Key constructions
Negative	香らず	かをらず	kaworazu
Contrasting conjunction	香れど	かをれど	kaworedo
Causal conjunction	香れば	かをれば	kaworeba
Conditional conjunction	香らば	かをらば	kaworaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	香りき	かをりき	kaworiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	香りけり	かをりけり	kaworikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	香りつ	かをりつ	kaworitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	香りぬ	かをりぬ	kaworinu
Perfect-continuative tense	香れり香りたり	かをれりかをりたり	kaworeri kaworitari
Volitional	香らむ	かをらむ	kaworamu

References

^ “薫・香”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

“香る”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

[KDJ2-1] “薫・香”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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