Editing Classical Japanese (section)

==== Classical auxiliary verb {{nihongo2|む}} (''mu'') rule ====

Modern Japanese has the moraic nasal {{nihongo2|ん}} (''n''), which can represent a variety of sounds depending on what sounds come before and after it. Syllable final nasals are believed by many scholars to have existed in Proto-Japonic, but all agree that they were lost by the time of Old Japanese. They first re-appeared in Early Middle Japanese, with the introduction of [[Middle Chinese]] loanwords ending in ''-n'' and ''-m''. Therefore, the majority of occurrences of {{nihongo2|ん}} (''n'') in modern Japanese occur in Sino-Japanese vocabulary. Originally, syllabic ''n'' and ''m'' were phonemically and phonologically distinct, although the distinction was never written down, and was lost by [[Early Modern Japanese]]. For example,

* {{nihongo2|漢字 (か'''ん'''じ)}} (''ka'''n'''zi'', from Middle Chinese {{IPA|hɑ'''n'''ᴴd͡zɨᴴ}})
* {{nihongo2|音樂 (お'''ん'''がく)}} (''o'''n'''gaku'', from Middle Chinese {{IPA|''ʔiɪ'''m'''ŋˠʌk̚''}}; originally pronounced ''o'''m'''gaku'') (note the old character form)

However, some native Japanese words also have {{nihongo2|ん}} (''n''). This happens exceedingly rarely, and usually results from sound elision. An exhaustive list of every example out of all [[Jōyō kanji|regular-use characters]] with the syllabic nasal in their native Japanese readings numbers only 13 characters (0.61% of the regular-use set) giving rise to 14 readings. They are

'''From the elision of a vowel following /m/ or /n/'''
* {{nihongo2|何 (な'''ん''')}} (''na'''n''''' "what"), from {{nihongo2|な'''に'''}} (''na'''ni''''' "what")
* {{nihongo2|女 (を'''ん'''な)}} (''wo'''n'''na'' "woman"), originally pronounced ''wo'''m'''na''; from {{nihongo2|を'''み'''な}} (''wo'''mi'''na'' "woman") (in modern orthography, {{nihongo2|'''お'''んな}} '''''o'''nna'' and {{nihongo2|'''お'''みな}} '''''o'''mina'')
* {{nihongo2|懇ろ (ね'''ん'''ごろ)}} (''ne'''n'''goro'' "courteous"), originally pronounced ''ne'''m'''koro''; from {{nihongo2|ね'''も'''ころ}} (''ne'''mo'''koro'' "courteous")
* {{nihongo2|神 (か'''ん''')}} (''ka'''n''''' "god" in some compounds), originally pronounced ''ka'''m'''''; from {{nihongo2|か'''み'''}} (''ka'''mi''''' "god") (in modern orthography, {{nihongo2|神}}, using a new character form)
* {{nihongo2|考ふ (か'''ん'''がふ)}} (''ka'''n'''gaf-u'' "consider"), from {{nihongo2|か'''む'''がふ}} (''ka'''mu'''gaf-u'' "consider"); note that these are the classical versions of the modern verbs {{nihongo2|考へる (かんがへる)}} (''kangahe-ru'') and {{nihongo2|考へる (かうがへる)}} (''kaugahe-ru''), respectively (in modern orthography, {{nihongo2|かんが'''う'''}} ''kanga'''u''''', {{nihongo2|'''こう'''が'''う'''}} '''''kō'''ga-'''u''''', {{nihongo2|かんが'''え'''る}} ''kanga'''e'''-ru'', and {{nihongo2|'''こう'''が'''え'''る}} '''''kō'''ga'''e'''-ru'', respectively)
'''From the elision of a full mora'''
* {{nihongo2|冠 (か'''ん'''むり)}} (''ka'''n'''muri'' "crown"), from {{nihongo2|か'''う'''ぶり}} (''ka'''u'''buri'' "rank"); note also the sound change from {{IPA|/b/}} to {{IPA|/m/}} (in modern orthography, {{nihongo2|'''かう'''ぶり}} '''''kau'''buri'' is {{nihongo2|'''こう'''ぶり}} '''''kō'''buri'')
* {{nihongo2|問 (と'''ん''')}} (''to'''n''''' "wholesale" in the compound {{nihongo2|問屋}} ''to'''n''''ya'' "wholesale store"), from {{nihongo2|と'''ひ'''}} (''to'''hi''''' "query") (in modern orthography, {{nihongo2|と'''ひ'''}} ''to'''hi''''' is {{nihongo2|と'''い'''}} ''to'''i''''')
* {{nihongo2|盛'''ん''' (さか'''ん''')}} (''saka'''n''''' "prosperous"), from {{nihongo2|さか'''り'''}} (''saka'''ri''''' "one's best days")
* {{nihongo2|芳し (か'''ん'''ばし)}} (''ka'''n'''ba-shi'' "fragrant"), from {{nihongo2|か'''ぐ'''はし}} (''ka'''gu'''ha-si'' "fragrant"); note also the sequential voicing of {{IPA|/h/}} to {{IPA|/b/}}, and that these are the classical forms of the adjectives {{nihongo2|芳しい (かんばしい)}} (''kanba-shii'') and {{nihongo2|芳しい (かぐはしい)}} (''kaguha-shii'') (in modern orthography, {{nihongo2|かぐ'''は'''し}} ''kagu'''ha'''-shi'' is {{nihongo2|かぐ'''わ'''し}} ''kagu'''wa'''-shi'' and {{nihongo2|かぐ'''は'''しい}} ''kagu'''ha'''-shii'' is {{nihongo2|かぐ'''わ'''しい}} ''kagu'''wa'''-shii'')
'''From the preservation of an Old Japanese pre-nasalized consonant in a modern Japanese word'''
* {{nihongo2|鑑みる (か'''ん'''がみる)}} (''ka'''n'''gami-ru'' "learn from"), from {{nihongo2|か'''ゞ'''みる}} (''ka'''ga'''mi-ru'' "learn from") (in modern orthography, {{nihongo2|か'''ゞ'''みる}} ''ka'''ga'''mi-ru'' is {{nihongo2|か'''が'''みる}} ''ka'''ga'''mi-ru'', without iteration marks)
* {{nihongo2|丼}} ({{nihongo2|ど'''ん'''ぶり}}) (''do'''n'''buri'' "porcelain bowl"), from {{nihongo2|ど'''ぶ'''り}} (''do'''bu'''ri'' "[sound symbolism for something big and soft plopping down]")
'''From abbreviation of another pronunciation on this list'''
* {{nihongo2|丼}} ({{nihongo2|ど'''ん'''}}) (''do'''n''''' "porcelain bowl"), originally pronounced ''do'''m'''''; from aforementioned {{nihongo2|ど'''ん'''ぶり}} (''do'''n'''buri'' "porcelain bowl")
'''From multiple processes'''
* {{nihongo2|御 (お'''ん''')}} (''o'''n''' "[honorific prefix]"), originally pronounced ''o'''m'''''; from {{nihongo2|大 (おほ)}} (''oho'' "great") + {{nihongo2|御 ('''み''')}} ('''''mi''''' "august"), which became {{nihongo2|大御 (おほ'''み''')}} (''oho'''mi''''' "august"), and then {{nihongo2|御 (おほ'''ん''')}} by elision of {{IPA|/i/}} after {{IPA|/m/}}, and finally {{nihongo2|御 (お'''ん''')}} (''o'''n''') by elision of the full mora {{IPA|/ho/}}; note the use of the character {{nihongo2|御}} instead of {{nihongo2|大御}} is ateji (in modern orthography, {{nihongo2|お'''ほ'''}} '''''oho''''' is {{nihongo2|お'''お'''}} '''''ō''''', {{nihongo2|お'''ほ'''み}} '''''oho'''mi'' is {{nihongo2|お'''お'''み}} '''''ō'''mi'', and {{nihongo2|お'''ほ'''ん}} '''''oho'''n'' is お'''お'''ん '''''ō'''n'')
'''From some semantic (rather than phonetic) process'''
* {{nihongo2|四 (よ'''ん''')}} (''yo'''n''' "four"), from {{nihongo2|よ}} (''yo'' "four) by analogy with Sino-Japanese {{nihongo2|三 (さん)}} (''sa'''n''' "three", originally pronounced ''sa'''m''''')

Of course, there are also some words with this sound that either lack Chinese characters or were coined in the modern or Early Modern Japanese eras, when {{nihongo2|ん}} (''n'') had been fully incorporated into the language. For example,

* {{nihongo2|さ'''ん'''}} (''sa'''n''''' "[all-purpose honorific]"), originally pronounced ''sa'''m'''''; from {{nihongo2|樣 (さま)}} (''sa'''ma''''' "[respectful honorific]") (in modern orthography, the new character form {{nihongo2|様}} is used)

Regardless of how it came to be, the Japanese orthography lacked the character {{nihongo2|ん/ン}} (''n'') or any equivalent. Therefore, until the spelling reforms of 1900, {{nihongo2|む/ム}} (''mu'') was generally used to represent the syllabic nasal. Sometimes, this convention may be preserved by modern writers, but standard historical kana distinguishes {{nihongo2|む}} (''mu'') from {{nihongo2|ん}} (''n'').

There is one exception. In classical Japanese, there is an auxiliary verb ({{nihongo2|助動詞}} ''jodōshi'') {{nihongo2|む}} (''mu'') which indicated the volitional. It, too, underwent vowel elision, and came to be pronounced as {{IPA|/m/}} and then {{IPA|/n/}}. However, the conventions of standard historical kana call for this auxiliary verb (and any word derived from it) to be written with {{nihongo2|む}} (''mu'') even though they are pronounced as {{nihongo2|ん}} (''n'').

Since the auxiliary verb {{nihongo2|む}} (''mu'') is non-existent in modern Japanese, there are no dialects that preserve the distinction expressed in this rule. However, some may preserve the distinction between final {{IPA|/m/}} and {{IPA|/n/}}.