やらん

Japanese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ja̠ɾã̠ɴ]

Etymology 1

Contraction of Old Japanese phrase にやあらむ, consisting of に (ni, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative form”) of concluding auxiliary verb なり nari) + や (ya, coordinating particle, expressing a question or doubt) + あら (the 未然形 (mizenkei, “imperfective form”) of verb ある aru “to be”) + む (mu, auxiliary verb, expressing a guess or hope regarding an outcome or result). Literal meaning is roughly “isn't it so?”

/ni ya aramu/ → /yaramu/ → /yaran/

The yaramu form is already seen in the Man'yōshū, dated to around 760.

Phrase

やらん • (yaran) 

1. (archaic, dialect) “isn't it?”

   When used at the end of a sentence. Replaced in modern standard Japanese by だろう (darō) in casual informal speech, and でしょう (deshō) in more generally polite speech.

2. (archaic, dialect) expresses uncertainty or indefiniteness

   When used mid-sentence following a noun. Generally preceded by adverbial particle と (to).

Etymology 2

Contraction of verb form やらない (yaranai, “not do”), from verb やる (yaru, “to do”).

/yaranai/ → /yaran/

Verb

やらん • (yaran) 

1. (informal, colloquial, slang) not do

   See やる for details.