たまう

Japanese

Alternative spellings
給う 賜う

Etymology

From Old Japanese たまふ (tamapu).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) たま​う [tàmáꜜù] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ta̠ma̠ɯ̟ᵝ]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "給う"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	給う	たま​う	[tàmáꜜù]
Imperative (命令形)	給え	たま​え	[tàmáꜜè]
Key constructions
Passive	給われる	たまわれ​る	[tàmáwáréꜜrù]
Causative	給わせる	たまわせ​る	[tàmáwáséꜜrù]
Potential	給える	たまえ​る	[tàmáéꜜrù]
Volitional	給おう	たまお​ー	[tàmáóꜜò]
Negative	給わない	たまわ​ない	[tàmáwáꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	給わなかった	たまわ​なかった	[tàmáwáꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	給います	たまいま​す	[tàmáímáꜜsù]
Perfective	給った	たま​った	[tàmáꜜttà]
Conjunctive	給って	たま​って	[tàmáꜜttè]
Hypothetical conditional	給えば	たま​えば	[tàmáꜜèbà]

Verb

たまう • (tamau) ^{←たまふ (tamafu)?}godan (stem たまい (tamai), past たまった (tamatta))

Japanese verb pair
active	たまう
mediopassive	賜る

1. (dated, honorific) to give; to grant

   Synonym: 下さる

2. (honorific) (to do something) for me/for us

Usage notes

• (to give):
  • Usually considered overpolite today.
• (to do something for me):
  • Used especially in the imperative tense to form polite commands. It is attached to the continuative form of a verb and is often spelled in hiragana.

    こちらへ来(き)たまえ。

    Kochira e kitamae.

    Come here.

  • Less polite than 下(くだ)さる (kudasaru). Mostly used by superiors to subordinates.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "たまう" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	たまわ	tamawa
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	たまい	tamai
Shūshikei ("terminal")	たまう	tamau
Rentaikei ("attributive")	たまう	tamau
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	たまえ	tamae
Meireikei ("imperative")	たまえ	tamae
Key constructions
Passive	たまわれる	tamawareru
Causative	たまわせる たまわす	tamawaseru tamawasu
Potential	たまえる	tamaeru
Volitional	たまおう	tamaō
Negative	たまわない	tamawanai
Negative continuative	たまわず	tamawazu
Formal	たまいます	tamaimasu
Perfective	たまった	tamatta
Conjunctive	たまって	tamatte
Hypothetical conditional	たまえば	tamaeba

Classical conjugation of "たまふ" (ハ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	たまは		tamafa
Continuative (連用形)	たまひ		tamafi
Terminal (終止形)	たまふ		tamafu
Attributive (連体形)	たまふ		tamafu
Realis (已然形)	たまへ		tamafe
Imperative (命令形)	たまへ		tamafe
Key constructions
Negative	たまはず		tamafazu
Contrasting conjunction	たまへど		tamafedo
Causal conjunction	たまへば		tamafeba
Conditional conjunction	たまはば		tamafaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	たまひき		tamafiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	たまひけり		tamafikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	たまひつ		tamafitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	たまひぬ		tamafinu
Perfect-continuative tense	たまへり たまひたり		tamaferi tamafitari
Volitional	たまはむ		tamafamu