拘る

Japanese

FWOTD – 3 September 2022

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
拘
こだわ Grade: S
kun'yomi

From こ (ko-, “a small thing: 小, 個”) +‎ たわる (tawaru, “to lose oneself in something, to obsess over something: 戯る, 狂る”). The tawaru changes to dawaru as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Tawaru derives from the same tawa element in words such as 戯ける (tawakeru, “to mess around, to act crazy, to be nonsensical”) or 戯言 (tawagoto, “nonsense, crazy talk”), indicating "actions or state out of the ordinary: eccentricity, preposterousness, absurdity":
tawa + auxiliary verb る (ru, indicating spontaneous or passive action).

Tawa may be the nominalized imperfective form of root verb たう (tau, “to stand up to pressure, to remain unchanged, to last; to be appropriate to a task, to have value: 堪う, 耐う, 勝う”), with the imperfective possibly indicating “not lasting: fickle, changing; not being appropriate, not having value”.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こだわる [kòdáwáꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ko̞da̠β̞a̠ɾɯ̟]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「こだわる」

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	こだわる	こだわる	[kòdáwáꜜrù]
Imperative (命令形)	こだわれ	こだわれ	[kòdáwáꜜrè]
Key constructions
Passive	こだわられる	こだわられる	[kòdáwáráréꜜrù]
Causative	こだわらせる	こだわらせる	[kòdáwáráséꜜrù]
Potential	こだわれる	こだわれる	[kòdáwáréꜜrù]
Volitional	こだわろう	こだわろー	[kòdáwáróꜜò]
Negative	こだわらない	こだわらない	[kòdáwáráꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	こだわらなかった	こだわらなかった	[kòdáwáráꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	こだわります	こだわります	[kòdáwárímáꜜsù]
Perfective	こだわった	こだわった	[kòdáwáꜜttà]
Conjunctive	こだわって	こだわって	[kòdáwáꜜttè]
Hypothetical conditional	こだわれば	こだわれば	[kòdáwáꜜrèbà]

Verb

拘(こだわ)る • (kodawaru) ^{←こだはる (kodafaru)?}intransitive godan (stem 拘(こだわ)り (kodawari), past 拘(こだわ)った (kodawatta))

1. to get hung up on something, to not proceed smoothly

   些細(ささい)なことに拘(こだわ)って納品(のうひん)が遅(おく)れた。

   Sasai na koto ni kodawatte nōhin ga okureta.

   He got hung up on minor details, and he was late delivering [the product].

2. to be concerned over something that is not worth attention: to be overly fastidious or particular

   無視(むし)すればよいのに、どうして拘(こだわ)るの。

   Mushi sureba yoi no ni, dōshite kodawaru no.

   You should be ignoring that, so why are you worrying about it?

   • 2014, Kimura Sōta, Terebi ga tsutaenai Kenpō no hanashi, page 191:

     そういう奇(き)妙(みょう)な拘(こだわ)りを持(も)つ人(ひと)が強(きょう)調(ちょう)するのは、決(き)まって、日(に)本(ほん)国(こく)憲(けん)法(ぽう)の制(せい)定(てい)経(けい)緯(い)である。

     Sō iu kimyō na kodawari o motsu hito ga kyōchō suru no wa, kimatte, Nihonkoku Kenpō no seitei keī de aru.

     People who have that strange fixation always emphasize, without fail, the process through which the Japanese Constitution was established.

3. to nitpick about something

   メニューの言葉遣(ことばづか)いに拘(こだわ)り文句(もんく)を言(い)う

   menyū no kotobazukai ni kodawari monku o iu

   to nitpick and complain about the wording of the menu

4. to take special care over something, to be particular (in a positive way)

   品質(ひんしつ)に拘(こだわ)る

   hinshitsu ni kodawaru

   to be careful about quality, to be particular about quality

   • 2013 September 29, Matsuyama Iwao, “‘Bunshi no yūjō Yoshiyuki Junnosuke no koto nado’ Yasuoka Shōtarō cho tomo no kioku, bungaku e no kakugo”, in Yomiuri Shimbun, page 13:

     だがその実(じつ)、記(き)憶(おく)を蘇(よみがえ)らせつつ、例(たと)えば吉(よし)行(ゆき)の初(しょ)期(き)短(たん)篇(ぺん)を再(さい)読(どく)する過(か)程(てい)で、安(やす)岡(おか)の小(しょう)説(せつ)への真(しん)摯(し)な拘(こだわ)りが明(あき)らかになる。

     Da ga sono jitsu, kioku o yomigaerase tsutsu, tatoeba Yoshiyuki no shoki tanpen o saidoku suru katei de, Yasuoka no shōsetsu e no shinshi na kodawari ga akiraka ni naru.

     But in fact, through this remembrance, for example in the process of rereading Yoshiyuki’s early short fiction, Yasuoka’s sincere commitment to the novel becomes clear.

Usage notes

This term is often spelled in hiragana.

Though intransitive, this verb usually takes an indirect object followed by the particle に (ni).

The positive connotations of sense 4 appear to be a more recent development. Some speakers and writers may caution against using the word this way.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "拘る" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	拘ら	こだわら	kodawara
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	拘り	こだわり	kodawari
Shūshikei ("terminal")	拘る	こだわる	kodawaru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	拘る	こだわる	kodawaru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	拘れ	こだわれ	kodaware
Meireikei ("imperative")	拘れ	こだわれ	kodaware
Key constructions
Passive	拘られる	こだわられる	kodawarareru
Causative	拘らせる 拘らす	こだわらせる こだわらす	kodawaraseru kodawarasu
Potential	拘れる	こだわれる	kodawareru
Volitional	拘ろう	こだわろう	kodawarō
Negative	拘らない	こだわらない	kodawaranai
Negative continuative	拘らず	こだわらず	kodawarazu
Formal	拘ります	こだわります	kodawarimasu
Perfective	拘った	こだわった	kodawatta
Conjunctive	拘って	こだわって	kodawatte
Hypothetical conditional	拘れば	こだわれば	kodawareba

Synonyms

Synonyms

• (negative: get stuck on, get hung up about): 拘泥(こうでい) (kōdei)
• (positive: be careful about): 極(きわ)める (kiwameru)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
拘
かかわ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
拘わる 関わる 係わる

Derived from the explicitly intransitive or passive form of root verb かかう (kakau, “to carry, to be carried: 抱う, 香う”):
kakau > imperfective form kakawa + auxiliary verb る (ru, indicating spontaneous or passive action).

In turn, kakau derives from root verb かく (kaku, “to catch one thing atop another: 掛く, 懸く”):
kaku > imperfective form kaka + auxiliary verb ふ (fu, indicating repetition or ongoing state: modern verb ending う u).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かかわる [kàkáwáꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])
• (Tokyo) かかわる [kàkáwárú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ka̠β̞a̠ɾɯ̟]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「係わる」

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	係わる	かかわる	[kàkáwáꜜrù]
Imperative (命令形)	係われ	かかわれ	[kàkáwáꜜrè]
Key constructions
Passive	係わられる	かかわられる	[kàkáwáráréꜜrù]
Causative	係わらせる	かかわらせる	[kàkáwáráséꜜrù]
Potential	係われる	かかわれる	[kàkáwáréꜜrù]
Volitional	係わろう	かかわろー	[kàkáwáróꜜò]
Negative	係わらない	かかわらない	[kàkáwáráꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	係わらなかった	かかわらなかった	[kàkáwáráꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	係わります	かかわります	[kàkáwárímáꜜsù]
Perfective	係わった	かかわった	[kàkáwáꜜttà]
Conjunctive	係わって	かかわって	[kàkáwáꜜttè]
Hypothetical conditional	係われば	かかわれば	[kàkáwáꜜrèbà]

Verb

拘(かかわ)る • (kakawaru) ^{←かかはる (kakafaru)?}intransitive godan (stem 拘(かかわ)り (kakawari), past 拘(かかわ)った (kakawatta))

1. to be in relation to, to be relevant to, to be involved in

   その事件(じけん)にかかわっていません。

   Sono jiken ni kakawatte imasen.

   I was not involved in that incident.

2. to be involved in a negative way: to meddle, to interfere

   家族(かぞく)の件(けん)ですのでかかわらない方(ほう)が良(い)いです。

   Kazoku no ken desu node kakawaranai hō ga ii desu.

   It's a family affair, so it would be best not to interfere.

3. to have a substantial effect on something, to endanger something

   命(いのち)にかかわること

   inochi ni kakawaru koto

   a matter of life and death

   名誉(めいよ)にかかわる問題(もんだい)

   meiyo ni kakawaru mondai

   a problem affecting / impinging upon one's honor

4. to get hung up on something

   こんな平凡(へいぼん)なことになぜかかわるのか。

   Konna heibon na koto ni naze kakawaru no ka.

   Why are you getting hung up on / why are you worrying over such a humdrum issue?

Usage notes

Usually written in hiragana. When written in kanji, sense 4, “to get hung up on something,” is generally written as 拘る or 拘わる, with the other senses written as 関わる or 係わる.

Though intransitive, this verb usually takes an indirect object followed by the particle に (ni).

Conjugation

Conjugation of "拘る" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	拘ら	かかわら	kakawara
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	拘り	かかわり	kakawari
Shūshikei ("terminal")	拘る	かかわる	kakawaru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	拘る	かかわる	kakawaru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	拘れ	かかわれ	kakaware
Meireikei ("imperative")	拘れ	かかわれ	kakaware
Key constructions
Passive	拘られる	かかわられる	kakawarareru
Causative	拘らせる 拘らす	かかわらせる かかわらす	kakawaraseru kakawarasu
Potential	拘れる	かかわれる	kakawareru
Volitional	拘ろう	かかわろう	kakawarō
Negative	拘らない	かかわらない	kakawaranai
Negative continuative	拘らず	かかわらず	kakawarazu
Formal	拘ります	かかわります	kakawarimasu
Perfective	拘った	かかわった	kakawatta
Conjunctive	拘って	かかわって	kakawatte
Hypothetical conditional	拘れば	かかわれば	kakawareba

Synonyms

• (be related to, be relevant to): 関係(かんけい) (kankei)
• (to affect): 影響(えいきょう)する (eikyō suru)
• (to endanger): 危(あや)うくする (ayauku suru)
• (to meddle): 干渉(かんしょう)する (kanshō suru)
• (get stuck on, get hung up about): 拘泥(こうでい)する (kōdei suru)