18947
I'd like to know what is the suffix たもうた used in the example phrase 「
神の創りたもうた世界」. I've found several [more occurrences of
it](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E3%81%9F%E3%82%82%E3%81%86%E3%81%9F) and it
seem to work like some honorific equivalent of くださる used in ceremonial speech
when referring to divine activities, attached to the masu-stem of the verb. Am
I correct?

While たもうた obviously is past tense, it doesn't seem to follow regular
conjugation rules. My question is: what is the base verb form and which
grammar rules (if any) were used to create this past form?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-05T12:19:44.113
18945
2014-10-05T13:59:32.683
6593
question
grammar verbs suffixes
What is 「たもうた」 in 「 神の創りたもうた世界」?
It comes from the verb 給【たま】う via
[ウ音便](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9F%B3%E4%BE%BF). Other examples: 問【と】う
→ 問うた, しまう → しもうた, 言【い】う → 言【ゆ】うた. This is a feature of medieval Japanese and
persists in western dialects of modern Japanese; in standard Japanese it is
only found in fossilised forms.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-05T12:48:10.700
18946
2014-10-05T12:48:10.700
578
18945
answer
It comes from the Classical honorific verb 「[賜]{たま}ふ」, which means "to give
(from one in a higher position to one in the lower)". The Modern counterpart
is 「お[与]{あた}えになる」 or 「[下]{くだ}さる」. The 「ふ」 has become 「う」 over time as you
probably know.

This verb can be used as an honorific subsidiary verb following another verb.
The Modern counterparts are 「～～てくださる」、「お～～になる」, etc.

「[創]{つく}りたもうた」 ＝ 「創る」 + 「たもうた」 = "to create" + "gracefully did so (as a
subsidiary verb)"

This verb phrase is in the past tense （た at the end）. Classical verbs are
conjugated in the Classical way even when they appear in the Modern context
for the authors' intended aesthetic reasons. It is not even possible to
conjugate them in the Modern way. The pronunciation, however, is often changed
to its modern way and, therefore, reflected in the kana. たまふた is Classical and
たもうた is Modern.

Thus, 「 [神]{かみ}の創りたもうた[世界]{せかい}」 means "the world which God (gracefully)
created (for us)".

In the entirely "modern" Japanese, the phrase is equivalent to
「神のお創りになられた世界」or 「神の創ってくださった世界」 in meaning. That is if anyone is interested in
the modern translation within Japanese.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-05T13:06:33.343
18947
2014-10-05T13:59:32.683
2014-10-05T13:59:32.683
18945
answer