3536
Is it known why a さかや normally has a か, rather than a け like in さけ?

Are there many other -や constructions for stores that change the spelling of
the word added to?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-10-23T01:07:05.920
3533
2021-09-06T19:42:44.640
91
question
etymology spelling
Why is a place that sells さけ a さかや?
(Especially in the ancient times,) there were/are bound morphemes (morphemes
that cannot be used in isolation as a word) that end with the vowel `a`. The
`a` at the end of these morphemes cannot appear at a word boundary. These
forms are known as 被覆形.

> saka- (as in 酒)  
>  ama- (as in 雨)  
>  puna- (as in 船)  
>  ma- (as in 目)

When they are used as the first component of a compound noun, the `a`-ending
is rescued by being attached to the second component:

> sakaya (酒屋), sakagura (酒蔵), sakadaru (酒樽), sakamori (酒盛り), sakazuki (盃)  
>  amaoto (雨音), amagasa (雨傘), amagappa (雨合羽), amayadori (雨宿り)  
>  funatsukiba (船着き場), funanori (船乗り), funazumi (船積み), funabashi (船橋), funayoi
> (船酔い)  
>  mabuta (目蓋), manako (眼)

These morphemes cannot be used in isolation, but there were ways to modify
them so that they can be used by themselves. One such way was to attach the
vowel `i` (上代特殊仮名遣い乙類イ) after it, which may be either an epenthetic vowel or a
derivational morpheme that derives a noun (this part may be controversial).
When such vowel attaches, the `a+i` sequence became `e` due to a phonological
rule:

> **a-i → e**  
>  saka-i → sake (酒)  
>  ama-i → ame (雨)  
>  puna-i → fune (船)  
>  ma-i → me (目)

These forms derived in this way are called 露出形.

* * *

[A related question][1]
CC BY-SA 4.0
2011-10-23T03:04:11.197
3536
2021-09-06T19:42:44.640
2021-09-06T19:42:44.640
-1
3533
answer