酔う

Japanese

Kanji in this term
酔
よ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
醉う (kyūjitai)

Etymology 1

/wepu/ → /wefu/ → /jefu/ → */jewu/ → */jowu/ → /jou/

Shift from classical verb 酔ふ (efu → eu), possibly parsed as jefu, itself from Old Japanese 酔ふ (wepu → wefu → eu).

Compare the development of 葉 (efu → yō, “leaf”, on-yomi or Chinese-derived reading).

Pronunciation

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「酔う」

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	酔う	よう	[yóꜜù]
Imperative (命令形)	酔え	よえ	[yóꜜè]
Key constructions
Passive	酔われる	よわれる	[yòwáréꜜrù]
Causative	酔わせる	よわせる	[yòwáséꜜrù]
Potential	酔える	よえる	[yòéꜜrù]
Volitional	酔おう	よおー	[yòóꜜò]
Negative	酔わない	よわない	[yòwáꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	酔わなかった	よわなかった	[yòwáꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	酔います	よいます	[yòímáꜜsù]
Perfective	酔った	よった	[yóꜜttà]
Conjunctive	酔って	よって	[yóꜜttè]
Hypothetical conditional	酔えば	よえば	[yóꜜèbà]

Verb

1. to get drunk, become intoxicated or inebriated, fall under the influence of alcohol.

   酒(さけ)に酔(よ)って暴(あば)れる

   sake ni yotte abareru

   to get drunk and become violent

   Synonyms: 酩酊する (meitei suru), 酔いが回る (yoi ga mawaru), 酔っ払う (yopparau)

2. (figuratively) to become drunk or intoxicated (exhilarated) by something.

   夜(よ)景(けい)に酔(よ)う

   yokei ni you

   to get lost in the night scene

3. to get motion sickness (as in carsick, airsick, seasick, etc.)

   乗(の)り物(もの)に酔(よ)う

   norimono ni you

   to get motion-sick on a vehicle

4. to get addicted

   Synonym: 中毒する (chūdoku suru)

5. (archaic) to get poisoned (from eating meat or fish)

   Synonym: 中毒する (chūdoku suru)

6. (archaic) to get distracted by charm

Conjugation

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

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	酔わ	よわ	yowa
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	酔い	よい	yoi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	酔う	よう	you
Rentaikei ("attributive")	酔う	よう	you
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	酔え	よえ	yoe
Meireikei ("imperative")	酔え	よえ	yoe
Key constructions
Passive	酔われる	よわれる	yowareru
Causative	酔わせる 酔わす	よわせる よわす	yowaseru yowasu
Potential	酔える	よえる	yoeru
Volitional	酔おう	よおう	yoō
Negative	酔わない	よわない	yowanai
Negative continuative	酔わず	よわず	yowazu
Formal	酔います	よいます	yoimasu
Perfective	酔った	よった	yotta
Conjunctive	酔って	よって	yotte
Hypothetical conditional	酔えば	よえば	yoeba

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 酔(よ)い (yoi)
• 酔(よ)い狂(ぐる)い (yoigurui)
• 酔(よ)い醒(ざ)まし (yoizamashi)
• 酔(よ)い醒(ざ)め, 酔(よ)い覚(ざ)め (yoizame)
• 酔(よ)い痴(し)れる (yoishireru)
• 酔(よ)い倒(だお)れ (yoidaore)
• 酔(よ)いたんぼ (yoitanbo)
• 酔(よ)い潰(つぶ)す (yoitsubusu)
• 酔(よ)い止(ど)め (yoidome)
• 酔(よ)っ払(ぱら)う (yopparau)

Proverbs

• 酒(さけ)の酔(よ)い本性(ほんしょう)違(たが)わず (sake no yoi honshō tagawazu)
• 酒(さけ)の酔(よ)い本性(ほんしょう)忘(わす)れず (sake no yoi honshō wasurezu)

See also

• 酒(さけ) (sake): alcoholic beverage
• 深酒(ふかざけ) (fukazake)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
酔
え Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
醉う (kyūjitai)

Regular development of wepu. In the colloquial language, wepu developed into you, so eu is now only used in reading ancient texts.

Verb

酔(え)う • (eu) ^{←ゑふ (wefu)?}

1. Synonym of 酔う (you, “to get drunk”)

Conjugation

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

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	酔は	えは	efa
Continuative (連用形)	酔ひ	えひ	efi
Terminal (終止形)	酔ふ	えふ	efu
Attributive (連体形)	酔ふ	えふ	efu
Realis (已然形)	酔へ	えへ	efe
Imperative (命令形)	酔へ	えへ	efe
Key constructions
Negative	酔はず	えはず	efazu
Contrasting conjunction	酔へど	えへど	efedo
Causal conjunction	酔へば	えへば	efeba
Conditional conjunction	酔はば	えはば	efaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	酔ひき	えひき	efiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	酔ひけり	えひけり	efikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	酔ひつ	えひつ	efitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	酔ひぬ	えひぬ	efinu
Perfect-continuative tense	酔へり 酔ひたり	えへり えひたり	eferi efitari
Volitional	酔はむ	えはむ	efamu