14505
Is there a grammatical explanation for this pattern, which I have seen a
couple times in writing? I'm guessing it comes from classical grammar.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-15T16:38:13.457
14498
2018-01-22T00:54:33.440
2016-04-17T02:29:00.680
4216
3221
question
classical-japanese auxiliary-き
Grammar of (verb)し(noun) such as in 選ばれし者
It is from 'classical' grammar, or rather Early Middle Japanese. -し is the 連体形
(the 'attributive' form, used to modify nouns) of the past tense marker -き. It
is used to describe events the speaker knows have happened; in contrast to
-けり, which is used for events the speaker has only heard about but not
experienced himself. (There are a few other past tense or perfect aspect
markers - -ぬ, -り, etc - that are older and in varying stages of loss by Middle
Japanese.)

選ばれし者 then means 'the chosen one(s), the one(s) who has/have been chosen'.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-16T00:44:30.913
14505
2018-01-22T00:54:33.440
2018-01-22T00:54:33.440
9831
3639
14498
answer