軍配

Japanese

Kanji in this term
軍	配
ぐん Grade: 4	はい > ばい Grade: 3
on’yomi

軍配: a samurai using a gunbai uchiwa to signal to his troops.

Alternative forms

• 軍敗 (less common)

Etymology

Appears to be a Japanese coinage from Middle Chinese-derived elements, as a compound of 軍 (gun, “army, military, troops”) +‎ 配 (hai, “arrangement, positioning”). The hai changes to bai as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぐんばい [gùńbáí] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) ぐんば​い [gùńbáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ɡɯ̟̃ᵝmba̠i]

Noun

軍(ぐん)配(ばい) • (gunbai) 

1. the act of signaling directions or commands to an armed force
2. a person issuing such directions
3. the act of advancing or retreating in response to the situation
4. the act of changing one's prices in response to the situation: bargaining, haggling
5. short for 軍配団扇 (gunbai uchiwa): a lacquered rigid wooden fan used for signaling
6. (sumo) any of various signals indicated by a gyoji (sumo referee) using a gunbai uchiwa, including decision of the winner of a bout

   軍配(ぐんばい)通(どお)り

   gunbai dōri

   as indicated, confirmation of the victory indicated by a referee

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 軍配糸蜻蛉(ぐんばいいととんぼ) (gunbai ito tonbo): a type of damselfly, Platycnemis foliacea sasakii
• 軍配団扇(ぐんばいうちわ) (gunbai uchiwa): a lacquered rigid wooden fan used for signaling
• 軍配者(ぐんばいしゃ) (gunbaisha): a person issuing commands to a military force: a commander
• 軍配凧(ぐんばいだこ) (gunbaidako): a kite in the shape of a gunbai uchiwa
• 軍配蜻蛉(ぐんばいとんぼ) (gunbai tonbo): a type of damselfly, Platycnemis foliacea sasakii
• 軍配薺(ぐんばいなずな) (gunbai nazuna): field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense)
• 軍配昼顔(ぐんばいひるがお) (gunbai hirugao): beach morning glory or goat's foot, a common tropical creeping vine: Ipomoea pes-caprae
• 軍配酸漿(ぐんばいほおずき) (gunbai hōzuki): the egg sac of marine whelks of family Melongenidae
• 軍配虫(ぐんばいむし) (gunbai mushi): common name for a lace bug, flying insects of family Tingidae

Idioms

Idioms

• 軍配(ぐんばい)を上(あ)げる (gunbai o ageru): “to raise the gunbai (uchiwa)” → to decide in favor of someone, such as in a competition (from the way the gyōji or sumo referee raises the gunbai uchiwa to indicate a win)
• 軍配(ぐんばい)を返(かえ)す (gunbai o kaesu): “to turn over the gunbai (uchiwa)” → to signal the start of a sumo match, once the initial start-up positioning time has run out

Synonyms

• (advancing and retreating): 駆(か)け引(ひ)き (kakehiki)
• (changing prices): 商略(しょうりゃく) (shōryaku), 駆(か)け引(ひ)き (kakehiki)

Verb

軍(ぐん)配(ばい)する • (gunbai suru) suru (stem 軍(ぐん)配(ばい)し (gunbai shi), past 軍(ぐん)配(ばい)した (gunbai shita))

1. to signal directions or commands to an armed force
2. to advance or retreat in response to the situation
3. to change one's prices in response to the situation: to bargain, to haggle

Conjugation

Conjugation of "軍配する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	軍配し	ぐんばいし	gunbai shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	軍配し	ぐんばいし	gunbai shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	軍配する	ぐんばいする	gunbai suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	軍配する	ぐんばいする	gunbai suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	軍配すれ	ぐんばいすれ	gunbai sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	軍配せよ¹ 軍配しろ²	ぐんばいせよ¹ ぐんばいしろ²	gunbai seyo¹ gunbai shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	軍配される	ぐんばいされる	gunbai sareru
Causative	軍配させる 軍配さす	ぐんばいさせる ぐんばいさす	gunbai saseru gunbai sasu
Potential	軍配できる	ぐんばいできる	gunbai dekiru
Volitional	軍配しよう	ぐんばいしよう	gunbai shiyō
Negative	軍配しない	ぐんばいしない	gunbai shinai
Negative continuative	軍配せず	ぐんばいせず	gunbai sezu
Formal	軍配します	ぐんばいします	gunbai shimasu
Perfective	軍配した	ぐんばいした	gunbai shita
Conjunctive	軍配して	ぐんばいして	gunbai shite
Hypothetical conditional	軍配すれば	ぐんばいすれば	gunbai sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative

Synonyms

• (to advance and retreat): 駆(か)け引(ひ)き (kakehiki)
• (to change prices): 商略(しょうりゃく) (shōryaku), 駆(か)け引(ひ)き (kakehiki)

References

• Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN