「です」, what is it really? Is my analysis correct?

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At an elementary level, often, Japanese learners are taught that です is equivalent to the verb "to be" in English. Typical example:




私は学生です, I am a student.




That's fine, after all, it works. And to be honest, most people probably wouldn't really need a different explanation for the rest of their life.



With this question I'd like to go a little deeper. Can we really call です(or だ) an auxiliary verb?



To start with, if you look だ up on goo, it is grouped together with です, である, and のだ.



Right off the bat, you get this explanation:




断定を表わす。 expresses a conclusion/decision




So here is not really mentioning the word "verb" or "auxiliary verb" at all. Shortly after you can see:




「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




So, we can start by saying that actually です is an alteration/contraction of でございます.



Continuing to read the definition we get:




「である」は、「で」に補助動詞「ある」が接続したもので、同様のものに「であります」「でございます」がある。




Hence, 「である」 is formed by attaching to「で」the subsidiary/auxiliary verb「ある」. Because actually:




「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




Therefore, if I'm not wrong, we can do the following passages:




「で」+「あります」=「であります」= 「でございます」 = 「です」




Does the above make sense? In particular I'm a bit doubtful about the second equality.



To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form). It is also a contraction of 「でございます」, which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage), that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.



So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".



Is this a correct explanation? How can it be improved? Or, if it's wrong, where and why?










share|improve this question

























    up vote
    1
    down vote

    favorite












    At an elementary level, often, Japanese learners are taught that です is equivalent to the verb "to be" in English. Typical example:




    私は学生です, I am a student.




    That's fine, after all, it works. And to be honest, most people probably wouldn't really need a different explanation for the rest of their life.



    With this question I'd like to go a little deeper. Can we really call です(or だ) an auxiliary verb?



    To start with, if you look だ up on goo, it is grouped together with です, である, and のだ.



    Right off the bat, you get this explanation:




    断定を表わす。 expresses a conclusion/decision




    So here is not really mentioning the word "verb" or "auxiliary verb" at all. Shortly after you can see:




    「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




    So, we can start by saying that actually です is an alteration/contraction of でございます.



    Continuing to read the definition we get:




    「である」は、「で」に補助動詞「ある」が接続したもので、同様のものに「であります」「でございます」がある。




    Hence, 「である」 is formed by attaching to「で」the subsidiary/auxiliary verb「ある」. Because actually:




    「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




    Therefore, if I'm not wrong, we can do the following passages:




    「で」+「あります」=「であります」= 「でございます」 = 「です」




    Does the above make sense? In particular I'm a bit doubtful about the second equality.



    To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form). It is also a contraction of 「でございます」, which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage), that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.



    So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".



    Is this a correct explanation? How can it be improved? Or, if it's wrong, where and why?










    share|improve this question























      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite











      At an elementary level, often, Japanese learners are taught that です is equivalent to the verb "to be" in English. Typical example:




      私は学生です, I am a student.




      That's fine, after all, it works. And to be honest, most people probably wouldn't really need a different explanation for the rest of their life.



      With this question I'd like to go a little deeper. Can we really call です(or だ) an auxiliary verb?



      To start with, if you look だ up on goo, it is grouped together with です, である, and のだ.



      Right off the bat, you get this explanation:




      断定を表わす。 expresses a conclusion/decision




      So here is not really mentioning the word "verb" or "auxiliary verb" at all. Shortly after you can see:




      「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




      So, we can start by saying that actually です is an alteration/contraction of でございます.



      Continuing to read the definition we get:




      「である」は、「で」に補助動詞「ある」が接続したもので、同様のものに「であります」「でございます」がある。




      Hence, 「である」 is formed by attaching to「で」the subsidiary/auxiliary verb「ある」. Because actually:




      「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




      Therefore, if I'm not wrong, we can do the following passages:




      「で」+「あります」=「であります」= 「でございます」 = 「です」




      Does the above make sense? In particular I'm a bit doubtful about the second equality.



      To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form). It is also a contraction of 「でございます」, which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage), that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.



      So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".



      Is this a correct explanation? How can it be improved? Or, if it's wrong, where and why?










      share|improve this question













      At an elementary level, often, Japanese learners are taught that です is equivalent to the verb "to be" in English. Typical example:




      私は学生です, I am a student.




      That's fine, after all, it works. And to be honest, most people probably wouldn't really need a different explanation for the rest of their life.



      With this question I'd like to go a little deeper. Can we really call です(or だ) an auxiliary verb?



      To start with, if you look だ up on goo, it is grouped together with です, である, and のだ.



      Right off the bat, you get this explanation:




      断定を表わす。 expresses a conclusion/decision




      So here is not really mentioning the word "verb" or "auxiliary verb" at all. Shortly after you can see:




      「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




      So, we can start by saying that actually です is an alteration/contraction of でございます.



      Continuing to read the definition we get:




      「である」は、「で」に補助動詞「ある」が接続したもので、同様のものに「であります」「でございます」がある。




      Hence, 「である」 is formed by attaching to「で」the subsidiary/auxiliary verb「ある」. Because actually:




      「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




      Therefore, if I'm not wrong, we can do the following passages:




      「で」+「あります」=「であります」= 「でございます」 = 「です」




      Does the above make sense? In particular I'm a bit doubtful about the second equality.



      To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form). It is also a contraction of 「でございます」, which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage), that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.



      So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".



      Is this a correct explanation? How can it be improved? Or, if it's wrong, where and why?







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      asked 2 hours ago









      Tommy

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          Your collection of questions conflate a few things: 1) what is だ・です in modern Japanese, and 2) how did だ・です derive historically.



          Because of #2, #1 is a bit ... messy. :) So let's start with the history.




          「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




          This isn't an explanation of what です is now, so much as an explanation of the historical derivation. Shogakukan's 国語大辞典 provides this description:




          「でござります」→「でござんす」→「であんす」→「でえす」→「です」の経路で生じたものという




          Meanwhile, the modern plain form だ derives as:




          「にてあり」から出た「である」が、〔dea〕→〔da〕と変化したものという。→であ・じゃ・である




          Modern で (which actually appears from around the 1300s-1500s) is understood to have evolved from earlier にて (which is still used in formal writing). Classical copular ("is") verb あり equates to modern verb ある.



          Looking now at the particular parts of your post:




          「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




          Well, yes, in the modern language. But historically, だ derives from で + ある -- so this is not a regular kind of conjugation paradigm.




          To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form).




          Yes. Though I might not use the term "variation" so much as "polite form".




          It is also a contraction of 「でございます」,




          It derives from a contraction of でございます, but I don't believe it's considered to be such a contraction in modern regular usage.




          which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage)




          It's not quite the same as であります. Note that ございます is the humble version of あります. That difference in usage is important. :)




          that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.




          Yes -- but note also that であります is not a verb unto itself, but simply the particle で plus the verb あります.




          So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".




          Historically, yes. And if you dig around in classical Japanese and older stages of the language, you'll find just that -- あり serves as the primary copular verb.



          In modern Japanese, however, だ・です is the primary copular verb: it closes a predicate, and (optionally) supplies social register information ("politeness"). One no longer says things like 綺麗にあり, one says instead 綺麗だ. Similarly, instead of 本にてあり, one says 本だ.



          Related thread touching upon social register:



          • Why can't だ be used after an I-adjective?

          I hope the above covers the bases for you. If not, please comment and I can edit the post accordingly.






          share|improve this answer
















          • 1




            Actually I think this is a great answer. Very helpful to clarify what my understanding was. I think I wasn't really far away from the right answer, and was looking just for some remarks like yours to put everything in the right place. It's quite a shame stuff like this is not covered in most of Japanese language books. Sometimes I have a feelings things are "simplified" just to get the reader to get the point.. but they should talk about this stuff somewhere.
            – Tommy
            1 hour ago










          Your Answer








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          up vote
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          down vote













          Your collection of questions conflate a few things: 1) what is だ・です in modern Japanese, and 2) how did だ・です derive historically.



          Because of #2, #1 is a bit ... messy. :) So let's start with the history.




          「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




          This isn't an explanation of what です is now, so much as an explanation of the historical derivation. Shogakukan's 国語大辞典 provides this description:




          「でござります」→「でござんす」→「であんす」→「でえす」→「です」の経路で生じたものという




          Meanwhile, the modern plain form だ derives as:




          「にてあり」から出た「である」が、〔dea〕→〔da〕と変化したものという。→であ・じゃ・である




          Modern で (which actually appears from around the 1300s-1500s) is understood to have evolved from earlier にて (which is still used in formal writing). Classical copular ("is") verb あり equates to modern verb ある.



          Looking now at the particular parts of your post:




          「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




          Well, yes, in the modern language. But historically, だ derives from で + ある -- so this is not a regular kind of conjugation paradigm.




          To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form).




          Yes. Though I might not use the term "variation" so much as "polite form".




          It is also a contraction of 「でございます」,




          It derives from a contraction of でございます, but I don't believe it's considered to be such a contraction in modern regular usage.




          which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage)




          It's not quite the same as であります. Note that ございます is the humble version of あります. That difference in usage is important. :)




          that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.




          Yes -- but note also that であります is not a verb unto itself, but simply the particle で plus the verb あります.




          So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".




          Historically, yes. And if you dig around in classical Japanese and older stages of the language, you'll find just that -- あり serves as the primary copular verb.



          In modern Japanese, however, だ・です is the primary copular verb: it closes a predicate, and (optionally) supplies social register information ("politeness"). One no longer says things like 綺麗にあり, one says instead 綺麗だ. Similarly, instead of 本にてあり, one says 本だ.



          Related thread touching upon social register:



          • Why can't だ be used after an I-adjective?

          I hope the above covers the bases for you. If not, please comment and I can edit the post accordingly.






          share|improve this answer
















          • 1




            Actually I think this is a great answer. Very helpful to clarify what my understanding was. I think I wasn't really far away from the right answer, and was looking just for some remarks like yours to put everything in the right place. It's quite a shame stuff like this is not covered in most of Japanese language books. Sometimes I have a feelings things are "simplified" just to get the reader to get the point.. but they should talk about this stuff somewhere.
            – Tommy
            1 hour ago














          up vote
          3
          down vote













          Your collection of questions conflate a few things: 1) what is だ・です in modern Japanese, and 2) how did だ・です derive historically.



          Because of #2, #1 is a bit ... messy. :) So let's start with the history.




          「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




          This isn't an explanation of what です is now, so much as an explanation of the historical derivation. Shogakukan's 国語大辞典 provides this description:




          「でござります」→「でござんす」→「であんす」→「でえす」→「です」の経路で生じたものという




          Meanwhile, the modern plain form だ derives as:




          「にてあり」から出た「である」が、〔dea〕→〔da〕と変化したものという。→であ・じゃ・である




          Modern で (which actually appears from around the 1300s-1500s) is understood to have evolved from earlier にて (which is still used in formal writing). Classical copular ("is") verb あり equates to modern verb ある.



          Looking now at the particular parts of your post:




          「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




          Well, yes, in the modern language. But historically, だ derives from で + ある -- so this is not a regular kind of conjugation paradigm.




          To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form).




          Yes. Though I might not use the term "variation" so much as "polite form".




          It is also a contraction of 「でございます」,




          It derives from a contraction of でございます, but I don't believe it's considered to be such a contraction in modern regular usage.




          which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage)




          It's not quite the same as であります. Note that ございます is the humble version of あります. That difference in usage is important. :)




          that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.




          Yes -- but note also that であります is not a verb unto itself, but simply the particle で plus the verb あります.




          So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".




          Historically, yes. And if you dig around in classical Japanese and older stages of the language, you'll find just that -- あり serves as the primary copular verb.



          In modern Japanese, however, だ・です is the primary copular verb: it closes a predicate, and (optionally) supplies social register information ("politeness"). One no longer says things like 綺麗にあり, one says instead 綺麗だ. Similarly, instead of 本にてあり, one says 本だ.



          Related thread touching upon social register:



          • Why can't だ be used after an I-adjective?

          I hope the above covers the bases for you. If not, please comment and I can edit the post accordingly.






          share|improve this answer
















          • 1




            Actually I think this is a great answer. Very helpful to clarify what my understanding was. I think I wasn't really far away from the right answer, and was looking just for some remarks like yours to put everything in the right place. It's quite a shame stuff like this is not covered in most of Japanese language books. Sometimes I have a feelings things are "simplified" just to get the reader to get the point.. but they should talk about this stuff somewhere.
            – Tommy
            1 hour ago












          up vote
          3
          down vote










          up vote
          3
          down vote









          Your collection of questions conflate a few things: 1) what is だ・です in modern Japanese, and 2) how did だ・です derive historically.



          Because of #2, #1 is a bit ... messy. :) So let's start with the history.




          「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




          This isn't an explanation of what です is now, so much as an explanation of the historical derivation. Shogakukan's 国語大辞典 provides this description:




          「でござります」→「でござんす」→「であんす」→「でえす」→「です」の経路で生じたものという




          Meanwhile, the modern plain form だ derives as:




          「にてあり」から出た「である」が、〔dea〕→〔da〕と変化したものという。→であ・じゃ・である




          Modern で (which actually appears from around the 1300s-1500s) is understood to have evolved from earlier にて (which is still used in formal writing). Classical copular ("is") verb あり equates to modern verb ある.



          Looking now at the particular parts of your post:




          「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




          Well, yes, in the modern language. But historically, だ derives from で + ある -- so this is not a regular kind of conjugation paradigm.




          To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form).




          Yes. Though I might not use the term "variation" so much as "polite form".




          It is also a contraction of 「でございます」,




          It derives from a contraction of でございます, but I don't believe it's considered to be such a contraction in modern regular usage.




          which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage)




          It's not quite the same as であります. Note that ございます is the humble version of あります. That difference in usage is important. :)




          that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.




          Yes -- but note also that であります is not a verb unto itself, but simply the particle で plus the verb あります.




          So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".




          Historically, yes. And if you dig around in classical Japanese and older stages of the language, you'll find just that -- あり serves as the primary copular verb.



          In modern Japanese, however, だ・です is the primary copular verb: it closes a predicate, and (optionally) supplies social register information ("politeness"). One no longer says things like 綺麗にあり, one says instead 綺麗だ. Similarly, instead of 本にてあり, one says 本だ.



          Related thread touching upon social register:



          • Why can't だ be used after an I-adjective?

          I hope the above covers the bases for you. If not, please comment and I can edit the post accordingly.






          share|improve this answer












          Your collection of questions conflate a few things: 1) what is だ・です in modern Japanese, and 2) how did だ・です derive historically.



          Because of #2, #1 is a bit ... messy. :) So let's start with the history.




          「です」は、「でございます」が変化したもの,




          This isn't an explanation of what です is now, so much as an explanation of the historical derivation. Shogakukan's 国語大辞典 provides this description:




          「でござります」→「でござんす」→「であんす」→「でえす」→「です」の経路で生じたものという




          Meanwhile, the modern plain form だ derives as:




          「にてあり」から出た「である」が、〔dea〕→〔da〕と変化したものという。→であ・じゃ・である




          Modern で (which actually appears from around the 1300s-1500s) is understood to have evolved from earlier にて (which is still used in formal writing). Classical copular ("is") verb あり equates to modern verb ある.



          Looking now at the particular parts of your post:




          「で」は「だ」の連用形。 「で」is the conjunctive/continuative form of 「だ」




          Well, yes, in the modern language. But historically, だ derives from で + ある -- so this is not a regular kind of conjugation paradigm.




          To sum it up, 「です」 is a variation of 「だ」(its polite form).




          Yes. Though I might not use the term "variation" so much as "polite form".




          It is also a contraction of 「でございます」,




          It derives from a contraction of でございます, but I don't believe it's considered to be such a contraction in modern regular usage.




          which in turn is the same as 「であります」(forgetting here about the differences in usage)




          It's not quite the same as であります. Note that ございます is the humble version of あります. That difference in usage is important. :)




          that is formed by attaching 「で」 to the verb「あります」.




          Yes -- but note also that であります is not a verb unto itself, but simply the particle で plus the verb あります.




          So, after this long trip, we arrive to the conclusion that the "hidden verb" behind 「です」, is in fact ある, which is actually (or at least more close to) the sought after "to be".




          Historically, yes. And if you dig around in classical Japanese and older stages of the language, you'll find just that -- あり serves as the primary copular verb.



          In modern Japanese, however, だ・です is the primary copular verb: it closes a predicate, and (optionally) supplies social register information ("politeness"). One no longer says things like 綺麗にあり, one says instead 綺麗だ. Similarly, instead of 本にてあり, one says 本だ.



          Related thread touching upon social register:



          • Why can't だ be used after an I-adjective?

          I hope the above covers the bases for you. If not, please comment and I can edit the post accordingly.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 1 hour ago









          Eiríkr Útlendi

          15.6k12856




          15.6k12856







          • 1




            Actually I think this is a great answer. Very helpful to clarify what my understanding was. I think I wasn't really far away from the right answer, and was looking just for some remarks like yours to put everything in the right place. It's quite a shame stuff like this is not covered in most of Japanese language books. Sometimes I have a feelings things are "simplified" just to get the reader to get the point.. but they should talk about this stuff somewhere.
            – Tommy
            1 hour ago












          • 1




            Actually I think this is a great answer. Very helpful to clarify what my understanding was. I think I wasn't really far away from the right answer, and was looking just for some remarks like yours to put everything in the right place. It's quite a shame stuff like this is not covered in most of Japanese language books. Sometimes I have a feelings things are "simplified" just to get the reader to get the point.. but they should talk about this stuff somewhere.
            – Tommy
            1 hour ago







          1




          1




          Actually I think this is a great answer. Very helpful to clarify what my understanding was. I think I wasn't really far away from the right answer, and was looking just for some remarks like yours to put everything in the right place. It's quite a shame stuff like this is not covered in most of Japanese language books. Sometimes I have a feelings things are "simplified" just to get the reader to get the point.. but they should talk about this stuff somewhere.
          – Tommy
          1 hour ago




          Actually I think this is a great answer. Very helpful to clarify what my understanding was. I think I wasn't really far away from the right answer, and was looking just for some remarks like yours to put everything in the right place. It's quite a shame stuff like this is not covered in most of Japanese language books. Sometimes I have a feelings things are "simplified" just to get the reader to get the point.. but they should talk about this stuff somewhere.
          – Tommy
          1 hour ago

















           

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