how come some words end up like this 語 [Katari] 語り [Katari] - Feed Post by Pikmin

• 
  mog86uk

  語る [katar.u] = verb;　語り [katar.i] = noun.
  話す [hanas.u] = verb;　話し [hanas.i] = noun.
  飲む [nom.u] = verb;　飲み [nom.i] = noun.
  遊ぶ [asob.u] = verb;　遊び [asob.i] = noun.
  死ぬ [shin.u] = verb;　死に [shin.i] = noun.
  生きる [iki.ru] = verb;　生き [iki] = noun.
  始まる [hajimar.u] = verb;　始まり [hajimar.i] = noun.
  
  Single nouns do not traditionally contain okurigana (kana that comes after kanji in the word). However in our case, with nouns which are derived from the form of a verb, the okurigana often remains. One reason okurigana is kept is to differentiate the reading from other readings of the kanji, to avoid confusion with other words. With some words there are no alternative words to get confused with, so there is no need for the okurigana.
  
  Example:
  
  語り [katari] will more often be written with the okurigana. There is another word spelt as 語 [go] which is a noun as well and has a different meaning. This could cause confusion as to which word to read it as, "go" or "katari".
  
  話 [hanashi] will more often be written as just the kanji on its own. There is another word spelt as 話 [wa] but it is only a counter, which means it won't be easily confused even though its spelt the same way.
  
  Also:
  飲み [nomi] -vs- 飲 [in]
  死に [shini] -vs- 死 [shi]
  生き [iki] -vs- 生 [nama] / 生 [ki] / 生 [sei / shou]
  
  I've oversimplified this. There's a lot more to this, especially with compound words and other rules. Things like かたり will be written without the okurigana in the word 物語 [monogatari]. But this topic isn't really something to be concerned about. It's easier to deal with than it sounds. ^^

  August 18, 2015 at 12:00am