よう

Japanese

Etymology 1

On'yomi terms.

Noun

よう (rōmaji yō)

1. 用: business, engagement
2. 幼: young; young children
3. 洋: ocean
4. 要: cornerstone; requirement
5. 俑: wooden figure buried with the dead
6. 様: way, style, appearance
7. 葉: leaf, needle, blade (of a plant)
8. 陽: yang, sun, light
9. 癰: carbuncle

Counter

よう (rōmaji -yō)

1. 葉: (rare) counter for flat, thin things such as leaves or paper; (by extension) counter for small boats

Adjective

よう (-na inflection, rōmaji yō)

1. 様: be like, look like, seem like, as if, having the likeness of

Etymology 2

Verb

よう (godan conjugation, rōmaji you)

1. 酔う: to get drunk

Etymology 3

/mu/ → /ũ/ → /u/ → (for Group II (ichidan) and Group III (irregular) verbs) /joː/

The volitional verb suffix was originally む (mu, /mu/). This regularly shifted to a nasalized /ũ/, which then lost its nasalization and was reinterpreted as regular う (u, /u/) by roughly the Kamakura period (1185–1333).

This suffix grammatically attached to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of the verb. Regular sound changes then gave rise to the modern よう (yō, /joː/) ending, initially via fusion of the vowel sounds, and then by a reanalysis of the resulting fused -yō as the suffix to be added to the mizenkei stem. This reformulation as verb stem + suffix -yō started in the late Muromachi period (1336–1573) and continued through the Edo period in 1603–1868).

• 上一段活用 (kami ichidan, “upper monograde”) verbs with mizenkei stems ending in -i:

見む (mimu, /mimu/) → 見う (miu, /miu/) → 見う (myō, /mjoː/) → 見よう (miyō, /mijoː/)

• 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan, “lower monograde”) verbs with mizenkei stems ending in -e:

上げむ (agemu, /aɡemu/) → 上げう (ageu, /aɡeu/) → 上げう (agyō, /aɡjoː/) → 上げよう (ageyō, /aɡejoː/)

• The irregular verb する (suru) underwent further changes. The classical mizenkei stem ended in -e, and せ (se) in classical Japanese was pronounced more as she. Around the same time that the fused shō was separating again into a verb stem + suffix, the mizenkei stem shifted to end in i:

せむ (shemu, /ɕemu/) → せう (sheu, /ɕeu/) → せう (shō, /ɕoː/) → しよう (shiyō, /ɕijoː/)

• The irregular verb 来る (kuru) has a mizenkei stem ending in -o. This stem includes no front-vowel sound like /e/ or /i/ that might produce the palatal glide in /joː/, and here, the final -yō arose as a parallel construction with the above verb paradigms:

来む (komu, /komu/) → 来う (kou, /kou/) → 来う (kō, /koː/) → 来よう (koyō, /kojoː/)

Meanwhile, for regular classical 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) verbs, the mizenkei stem ends in -a. This ultimately fused with the -u suffix form to produce -ō, resulting in the modern regular 五段活用 (godan katsuyō, “quintigrade conjugation”).

行かむ (ikamu, /ikamu/) → 行かう (ikau, /ikau/) → 行かう (ikau, /ikɔː/) → 行こう (ikō, /ikoː/)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jo̞ː]

Suffix

よう (rōmaji -yō)

1. (jodōshi) Used to make the volitional form of verbs.
   1. Expressing one's will to do something.

      そろそろ寝 (ね)よう。

      Sorosoro neyō.

      I go to bed before long.

      そうしよう。

      Sō shiyō.

      I will do so.

      美 (お)味 (い)しいものを食 (た)べようと思 (おも)っています。

      Oishī mono o tabeyō to omotte imasu.

      I'm thinking about eating something delicious.

      出 (で)かけようとした時 (とき)、電 (でん)話 (わ)がかかってきた。

      Dekakeyō to shita toki, denwa ga kakatte kita.

      I got a phone call when I was about to go out.

   2. Inducing or stimulating other person to do something.

      さあ、始 (はじ)めよう。

      Sā, hajimeyō.

      Let's get started.

   3. (archaic) Presenting a supposition.

      Synonyms: だろう (darō), でしょう (deshō)

Usage notes

Attaches only to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of Group II (ichidan) and Group III (irregular) verbs.

• 起 (お)きる (okiru) → 起 (お)きよう (oki-yō)
• 食 (た)べる (taberu) → 食 (た)べよう (tabe-yō)
• 来 (く)る (kuru) → 来 (こ)よう (ko-yō)
• する (suru) → しよう (shi-yō)

The volitional form of Group I (godan) verbs are formed with う (-u) instead of よう (-yō), with further sound changes.

In traditional Japanese grammar, this is a 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”), with the sole form よう (yō) as the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and the 連体形 (rentaikei, “adnominal form”).

See also

• う (-u)
• む (-mu)
• ん (-n)

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jo̞ː]

Interjection

よう (rōmaji yō)

1. A very informal greeting similar to yo.

   よう、元 (げん)気 (き)？

   Yō, genki?

   Yo! Howdy?

2. A very informal (rude) interjection similar to hey.

   よう、待 (ま)てよ。

   Yō, mateyo.

   Hey, wait.

Usage notes

Women or gentlemen generally use ねえ (nē) instead of よう (yō). よう (yō) is masculine but gives a rude impression at times; ねえ (nē) is more graceful.

Synonyms

• やあ (yā)
• ねえ (nē)
• オッス (ossu)