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In classical Japanese, many uses of 形容詞{けいようし} had あり "embedded" in them,
e.g.:

  * 熱からず = 「熱し」の連用形＋「あり」の未然形{みぜんけい}＋「ず」
  * 熱かりたり = 「熱し」の連用形＋「あり」の連用形{れんようけい}＋「たり」
  * 熱かれ = 「熱し」の連用形＋「あり」の命令形{めいれいけい}
  * 熱かる人 = 「熱し」の連用形＋「あり」の連体形{れんたいけい}

while others did not:

  * 熱くす = 「熱し」の連用形＋「す」
  * 熱し = 「熱し」の終止形{しゅうしけい}
  * 熱き人 = 「熱し」の連体形{れんたいけい}

It seems that there is a plain form and an あり form for most of the
conjugations:

```

           plain    あり
    未然形  -ku      -kara
    連用形  -ku      -kari
    終止形  -si      missing
    連体形  -ki      -karu
    已然形  -kere    -kare
    命令形  missing  -kare
    
```

My question is why certain usages of 形容詞 used the あり version and others
didn't. Did the あり have some sort of semantic meaning?

(The original motivation for this was the question of why the past tense of
形容詞 is かった rather than くた or った or いた, while the て-form is くて.)

(P.S., the majority of my experience with classical Japanese is reading about
its grammar, not actually reading old poems or stories. I suspect if I had
more actual experience I'd be able to understand why あり is required in these
places.)
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2013-02-05T04:04:56.583
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2019-05-10T10:29:16.580
2019-05-10T10:29:16.580
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question
grammar etymology i-adjectives classical-japanese
What function did あり perform in classical Japanese 形容詞?
The same function as it does in modern Japanese: to supplement the missing
conjugations. Japanese adjectives have a limited conjugation: 連用形 -ku, 終止形
-si, and 連体形 -ki. So how would you make a negative adjective without a 未然形? Or
how would you make a conjection without 已然形 (modern 仮定形)? Easy: since it can
already modify a verb (連用形 -ku), just add a the most basic verb ar-. As a
verb, it can easily supplement the missing conjugations.
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2013-02-05T05:17:01.023
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2013-02-05T05:17:01.023
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answer
I have come to the following conclusion:

**The あり form of 形容詞 arose to support 助動詞.** The non-あり form is only used with
名詞 (via the 連体形), 動詞・形容詞 (via the 連用形), and 接続助詞.

To make sure that this explanation is not circular, 助動詞 and 接続助詞 need to be
differentiated using some other property — thankfully, 接続助詞 cannot be
predicative while 助動詞 can.

Some examples...

> 形容詞＋助動詞
>
>   * 未然形：熱からず、熱からむ
>   * 連用形：熱かりき、熱かりけり、熱かりたり
>   * 連体形：熱かるべし
>

>
> 形容詞＋動詞
>
>   * 連用形：熱くなり、熱くす
>

>
> 形容詞＋接続助詞
>
>   * 未然形：熱くば
>   * 連用形：熱くて
>   * 已然形：熱ければ、熱けれど、熱けれども
>

(In the case of 接続助詞「て」, it's true that it comes from 助動詞「つ」, but it seems
that it was reanalyzed as a 接続助詞, allowing for the wider distribution:
○熱くて、ｘ熱くつ.)

I think the reasoning goes like this: 助動詞 need to attach to a verb (whether
this is a purely syntactic constraint, or some sort of semantic one, I don't
know), so あり was inserted to help out. 接続助詞 on the other hand have no such
constraint.

And then, once the あり form arose, some things that could already be done
gained a new form, such as 熱からば and 熱かる人 — I do not think their meaning was
different from the non-あり form.
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2014-01-02T02:31:09.217
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2014-03-24T18:30:36.637
2014-03-24T18:30:36.637
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answer