colloquial would be considered an infringement of the dignity of written speech. The peculiarities distinguishing the epistolary style from the ordinary written style, treated of in the preceding pages, are very marked. They fall into two categories, viz. : SEC. 1. A PECULIAR CONJUGATION OF VERBS AND ADJECTIVES. 66 Almost every verb is turned into a compound by means of the irregular verb sōrō, which is suffixed to the indefinite form. Originally an independent verb signifying "to be in attendance on (conf. samurai, an attendant on a feudal lord "), sōrō now signifies nothing more than "to be" when used alone, and is a meaningless suffix when added to other verbs. Its conjugation is irregular and defective, the following being the only tenses in ordinary modern use: Present (also used for the past, and without) Future sõrawan. Sōrō having no indefinite form, the indefinite form of the plain verb is used instead to mark the end of a subordinate clause. The gerund or the indefinite form of the plain verb is also generally preferred to the gerund sōrōte. The future sōrawan is rare, being almost always replaced by the (properly potential) termination beku sōrō. The conditional sōracba is not infrequently used for the hypothetical sōrawaba. In the negative voice sōrō is suffixed to the gerund of the plain verb. In adjectives it is suffixed to the indefinite form. The ordinary conjugation of a verb in the epistolary style is therefore as follows: Concessive: yoroshiku soraedomo, though [it] is good. Sōrō is often dropped after adjectives, especially after taku and beku. Thus: Shōsei shuttatsu mae baikyaku itashi-taku [sōrō] ni tsuki, “As I am desirous of selling it before my departure." The Chinese nouns, which are verbalized by means of suru in the ordinary style of books and newspapers, are in the epistolary style mostly verbalized by means of itashi-sōrō, or of the more polite tsukamatsuri-sōrō for the first person, and kudasare-sōrō or nasare-sōrō for the second. Thus : Tōchaku itashi-sōrō, or tōchaku tsukamatsuri-sōrō, "I (or some other humble person) have arrived"; Go tōchaku kudasare sōrō, "You (or some other honourable person) have arrived." Conf. Honorifics, page 92. Sometimes sōrō is suffixed directly to nouns, without the intervention of itasu or suru, as Kikan haidoku sōrō, “I have had the honour to peruse your letter." SEC. 2. A PECULIAR PHRASEOLOGY. Besides its actual conjugational forms, sōrō combines with a number of nouns to form peculiar idioms. These and others, such as kore ari and kore naku, will be found in the list of idioms given at the end of the present author's “Romanized Japanese Reader," under the headings of aida, dan, gi, goza, jō, katu, kore, koto, and tokoro. Politeness also requires the constant repetition of honorifics and of ornamental verbs. Letters always open with some such polite phrase as Shokan wo motte keijō itashi-sōrō, "I have the honour to address you by letter "; ippitsu keijō, "one respectful stroke of the pen "; haikei, "I beg to state "; or, in replies, On tegami rakushu tsukamatsuri-sōrō, “Your honourable letter is to hand”; kakan haiten [tsukamatsuri-sōrō], I have opened your flowery epistle "; etc., etc. Then (at least in private letters) comes a sentence in which the correspondent is congratulated on the good health which he enjoys notwithstanding the adverse state of the weather, this, despite of the fact that the writer probably has no information on the subject. Thus: Reiki ai-tsunori-sōrō tokoro, masu-masu go seifuku keiga tatematsuri-sōrō, “I beg to congratulate you on the perfect way in which you keep your health, notwithstanding the increasing coldness of the season." The real subject of the letter is then introduced by the words chin wa or shikareba, for which see the list of idioms already referred to. Sometimes, especially in post-cards, the introductory compliments are superseded by some such apologetic phrase as Zenryaku; go kaiyō kulasaru-beku sōrō, "I omit compliments; pray excuse me for so doing." Letters are closed by some such phrase as Kono dan kii e-taku, or Migi mōshi-agetaku, kaku no gotoku goza-sōrō nari, "I beg to bring the above to your favourable notice "; On kotae katagata kii e-sōrō, 66 I take the occasion of this reply to bring the above to your favourable notice." To these some such expression as tonshu, "I bow my head"; kotsu-kotsu, "carelessly written"; fugu, "insufficient," is usually added. In official despatches, the introductory phrases, down to shikareba or chin wa inclusive, may be freely rendered by "I have the honour to inform you that...," or, in the case of answers, by "I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt. of your communication of the ...th instant, and to state in reply that..." Such English paraphrases of the opening words may also be held to include the resumptive final phrase Kono dan kii e-taku, while tonshu, kotsu-kotsu, etc., may be paraphrased by "I have the honour to be, etc." With obvious slight changes, the same remarks apply to the translation of private letters. Some of the difficulties of parsing, which are specially prominent in the epistolary style, will be found explained on page 89. THE END. PRINTED AT THE "JAPAN GAZETTE" OFFICE, |