Grammar
A number of archaic grammatical forms are shed bringing the language closer to its modern form.
One of the most prominent developments is the replacement of the conclusive form with the attributive. This has a number of effects:
- It is instrumental in the change from bigrade to monograde verbs.
- It causes a chain of events in the two adjectival classes which eventually results in the two merging into one.
- It weakens the Kakarimusubi system.
- The verb ar- "be", which was once irregular, begins to regularize as a quadrigrade.
Read more about this topic: Late Middle Japanese
Famous quotes containing the word grammar:
“All the facts of nature are nouns of the intellect, and make the grammar of the eternal language. Every word has a double, treble or centuple use and meaning.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Grammar is a tricky, inconsistent thing. Being the backbone of speech and writing, it should, we think, be eminently logical, make perfect sense, like the human skeleton. But, of course, the skeleton is arbitrary, too. Why twelve pairs of ribs rather than eleven or thirteen? Why thirty-two teeth? It has something to do with evolution and functionalism—but only sometimes, not always. So there are aspects of grammar that make good, logical sense, and others that do not.”
—John Simon (b. 1925)
“I went to a very militantly Republican grammar school and, under its influence, began to revolt against the Establishment, on the simple rule of thumb, highly satisfying to a ten-year-old, that Irish equals good, English equals bad.”
—Bernadette Devlin (b. 1947)