In modern Kinki dialects, ren'yo imperatives (RIs), whose form is the same as the infinitive (ren'yo) form, are used. In this study, I investigated the formation of RIs. I studied archival data on historical Kinki (Kamigata) dialects and concluded that RIs were derived from the honorific affix jaru as follows: ik-i-jar-e (ik-: stem, -i-: thematic vowel, -jar-: honorific affix, -e: imperative) > ik-i-ja (ik-: stem, -i-: thematic vowel, -ja: honorific affix - imperative) > ik-i-ja (ik-: stem, -i-: RI, -ja: sentence final particle) Originally, the imperative form of the honorific affix jaru was jare. In the late 17th century, the imperative form became ja, which was the same form as the sentence final particle ja. In addition, the imperative honorific affix ja, which had lost its honorific meaning, could be used as an impolite imperative form. Thus, the form before ja is analyzed as the imperative. The formation of RIs is attributed to the impoliteness of the use of traditional imperative forms (meirei imperatives). Various dialects in Modern Japanese have imperatives that are derived from the honorific affix peculiar to each area. This fact supports the idea that RIs are also derived from the honorific affix.
View full abstract