ず

See also: す

ず U+305A, ず
HIRAGANA LETTER ZU
Composition:す [U+3059] + ◌゙ [U+3099]
← す
[U+3059] 		Hiragana せ →
[U+305B]

Japanese
Stroke order

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [zɯᵝ]
  • IPA(key): [d͡zɯᵝ] (only in word-initial position, or in careful speech)

Etymology 1

The hiragana character す (su) with a dakuten (゛).

Syllable

ず (romaji zu)

  1. The hiragana syllable ず (zu). Its equivalent in katakana is ズ (zu).
See also

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese. Generally considered to be a combination of negation suffix ぬ (nu) in its 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of に (ni) + honorific suffix す (su).[1][2][3]

/nisu/ → */nzu/ → /zu/

Appears both as zu and as the older nisu form in the Man'yōshū poetry anthology.

Suffix

ず (rōmaji -zu)

  1. not
    何 (なに)も知 (し)らず
    nani mo shirazu
    not knowing anything
Conjugation
Classical conjugation of "ず" (irregular)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形) ざらzara
Continuative (連用形) ず[1]
ざり[2]		zu
zari
Terminal (終止形) ずzu
Attributive (連体形) ぬ
ざる		nu
zaru
Realis (已然形) ね
ざれ		ne
zare
Imperative (命令形) ざれzare
Key constructions
Negative -
Contrasting conjunction ねど
ざれど		nedo
zaredo
Causal conjunction ねば
ざれば		neba
zareba
Conditional conjunction ずは
ずば
ざらば		zufa
zuba
zaraba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge) ざりきzariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge) ざりけりzarikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action) ざりつzaritu
Perfect tense (natural event) [3]-
Perfect-continuative tense ざりたりzaritari
Adverbial ずzu
[1]Without auxiliary verbs.
[2]With auxiliary verbs.
[3]*ざりぬ is unattested.
Usage notes

Much as the older negation suffix ぬ (nu) and the modern negation suffix ない (nai), ず (zu) must come after the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of a verb.

The suffix ず (zu) is more formal than the everyday negation suffix ない (nai).

Etymology 3

The reading for various kanji.

Noun

ず (rōmaji zu)

  1. 図: diagram, figure, illustration
  2. 徒: imprisonment for one to three years
  3. 頭: head

Verb

ず (nidan conjugation, rōmaji zu)

  1. 出: (obsolete) come out

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
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