Old-fashioned and literary Japanese

Modern Japanese is full of fossils. In samurai dramas, fantasy RPGs, light novels, historical manga and older books, characters talk with the grammar of earlier centuries. This is not a complete grammar of classical Japanese (古文). It is a field guide to the pieces that show up in entertainment.

Modern ない has an older form ぬ, still common in formal and literary writing, and ず (the connective, "without doing").

Famous phrases use it: 見ざる、聞かざる、言わざる ("see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil"); やむを得ない / やむを得ず ("having no choice"). The modern polite negative 〜ません began as ます + ぬ.

Old い-adjectives end in -し in the dictionary form and -き when they modify a noun.

You will meet -き forms in titles, mottos and the names of techniques (anime attacks like 古き良き or 赤き血).

べし meant "should, must, will surely". Modern Japanese keeps べき (attributive) and べきだ:

Old speech has a rich set of "I" and "you". You will see these constantly in costume dramas, historical fiction and fantasy.

Some old forms persist in daily Japanese:

• 〜ず in 知らず知らず ("without realising").
• ゆえに / 故に: therefore.
• 〜のみ: only (formal; のみならず "not only").
• 〜たる / 〜なる: attributive classical copulas: 王たる者 ("one who is king").
• いかなる: whatever kind.
• 〜(ん)とする: be about to (〜んとす).
• ござる / ござい: ございます is a descendant.

Before 1946, Japanese was written with a spelling that does not match sound. Older books and poetry still use it.

Two quick rules: a word-medial ふ often becomes う, and ゐ/ゑ/を often become い/え/お. If a word reads wrongly aloud, try the modern sound.

1. Recognise the ending. If you see 〜ぬ, 〜ず, 〜き, 〜べし, 〜ござる, 〜じゃ, ask which modern form it stands for.
2. Translate to the modern pattern. 知らぬ → 知らない; 美しき → 美しい; 行くべし → 行くべきだ.
3. Take the flavour. The speaker is a samurai, a priest, an emperor, an elder, or a pompous narrator.

If you want to read real classical texts (古文) such as The Tale of Genji or Tsurezuregusa, you will need a dedicated textbook; this lesson is only enough to enjoy period drama and fantasy.

Period-drama speech uses all the old markers together. Convert each marker into its modern form as you read.

• ぬ / ず / ざる: old negative. -き: old adjective before a noun. べし / べき: should.
• せよ, たまえ: old imperatives. ござる, 候, じゃ, ぞよ: samurai and elder endings.
• Old pronouns (拙者, 我, 余, 妾, 吾輩, 汝, お主, そなた) mark character.
• Historical kana (けふ, おもふ) appear in old books.
• Think of it as costume: recognise it, map it to the modern form.