97546
According to [a video on transitive/intransitive
verbs](https://youtu.be/ELk1dqaEmyk), "Cure Dolly" states that whether a verb
ends in す is "always" a reliable indicator on whether it is an "other-move"
verb (他動詞):

> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qTgeI.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qTgeI.png)

Yet according to [my
dictionary](https://jpdb.io/search?q=%E5%87%BA%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8F%E3%81%99&lang=english#a),
the verb 出くわす is _intransitive_ :

> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qZYSO.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qZYSO.png)

**Question:** Is this one of those rare situations where transitivity and
"other-moveness" (他動詞) diverges, so that 出くわす is an 他動詞 but still
intransitive? Or is Cure Dolly's rule just wrong?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-08T01:11:55.920
97539
2022-12-08T12:26:54.550
51280
question
verbs transitivity
Is 出くわす a 他動詞 that's intransitive?
That rule is mostly true, especially for simple verbs, but it's not always
true. There are a few exceptional cases where what was originally a transitive
verb is now interpreted as an intransitive verb.

One example is [暮らす](https://jisho.org/word/%E6%9A%AE%E3%82%89%E3%81%99),
which is normally regarded as an intransitive verb today. According to 明鏡国語辞典,
it was originally a transitive (or causative) version of
[暮れる](https://jisho.org/word/%E6%9A%AE%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B), but something like
"to make days end" eventually became an independent intransitive verb meaning
"to live (a life)".

When it comes to compound verbs, there are quite a few intransitive verbs that
end with す, including 踊り明かす, 泣きはらす, 鉢合わす and 怒り散らす.

As for 出くわす, I could not find any authoritative source regarding its
etymology. But it may be related to 交はす【くわす】, which is a transitive verb
meaning "to cross/exchange (something)" in classical Japanese (its modern
equivalent is 交わす【かわす】). This may be another example of a verb that changed
its transitivity while being used as a compound verb. Cure Dolly's rule is
useful when you learn words, but this is not a rule recognized by an average
Japanese person, and there is seldom a 100% correct rule in the world of
vocabulary, anyway.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-08T11:53:17.067
97546
2022-12-08T12:26:54.550
2022-12-08T12:26:54.550
5010
5010
97539
answer