よう

On'yomi terms.

よう (rōmaji yō)

1. 用: business, engagement
2. 幼: young; young children
3. 洋: ocean
4. 要: cornerstone; requirement
5. 俑: wooden figure buried with the dead
6. 様: way, style, appearance
7. 葉: leaf, needle, blade (of a plant)
8. 陽: yang, sun, light
9. 癰: carbuncle

よう (rōmaji -yō)

1. 葉: (rare) counter for flat, thin things such as leaves or paper; (by extension) counter for small boats

よう (-na inflection, rōmaji yō)

1. 様: be like, look like, seem like, as if, having the likeness of

よう (godan conjugation, rōmaji you)

1. 酔う: to get drunk

/mu/ → /ũ/ → /u/ → (for Group II (ichidan) and Group III (irregular) verbs) /joː/

The volitional verb suffix was originally む (mu, /mu/). This regularly shifted to a nasalized /ũ/, which then lost its nasalization and was reinterpreted as regular う (u, /u/) by roughly the Kamakura period (1185–1333).[1][2][3]

This suffix grammatically attached to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of the verb. Regular sound changes then gave rise to the modern よう (yō, /joː/) ending, initially via fusion of the vowel sounds, and then by a reanalysis of the resulting fused -yō as the suffix to be added to the mizenkei stem. This reformulation as verb stem + suffix -yō started in the late Muromachi period (1336–1573) and continued through the Edo period in 1603–1868).[1][2][3]

• 上一段活用 (kami ichidan, “upper monograde”) verbs with mizenkei stems ending in -i:

見む (mimu, /mimu/) → 見う (miu, /miu/) → 見う (myō, /mjoː/) → 見よう (miyō, /mijoː/)

• 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan, “lower monograde”) verbs with mizenkei stems ending in -e:

上げむ (agemu, /aɡemu/) → 上げう (ageu, /aɡeu/) → 上げう (agyō, /aɡjoː/) → 上げよう (ageyō, /aɡejoː/)

• The irregular verb する (suru) underwent further changes. The classical mizenkei stem ended in -e, and せ (se) in classical Japanese was pronounced more as she. Around the same time that the fused shō was separating again into a verb stem + suffix, the mizenkei stem shifted to end in i:

せむ (shemu, /ɕemu/) → せう (sheu, /ɕeu/) → せう (shō, /ɕoː/) → しよう (shiyō, /ɕijoː/)

• The irregular verb 来る (kuru) has a mizenkei stem ending in -o. This stem includes no front-vowel sound like /e/ or /i/ that might produce the palatal glide in /joː/, and here, the final -yō arose as a parallel construction with the above verb paradigms:

来む (komu, /komu/) → 来う (kou, /kou/) → 来う (kō, /koː/) → 来よう (koyō, /kojoː/)

Meanwhile, for regular classical 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) verbs, the mizenkei stem ends in -a. This ultimately fused with the -u suffix form to produce -ō, resulting in the modern regular 五段活用 (godan katsuyō, “quintigrade conjugation”).

行かむ (ikamu, /ikamu/) → 行かう (ikau, /ikau/) → 行かう (ikau, /ikɔː/) → 行こう (ikō, /ikoː/)

• IPA^(key): [jo̞ː]

よう (rōmaji -yō)

1. (jodōshi) Used to make the volitional form of verbs.
   1. Expressing one's will to do something.

      そろそろ寝 (ね)よう。

      Sorosoro neyō.

      I go to bed before long.

      そうしよう。

      Sō shiyō.

      I will do so.

      美 (お)味 (い)しいものを食 (た)べようと思 (おも)っています。

      Oishī mono o tabeyō to omotte imasu.

      I'm thinking about eating something delicious.

      出 (で)かけようとした時 (とき)、電 (でん)話 (わ)がかかってきた。

      Dekakeyō to shita toki, denwa ga kakatte kita.

      I got a phone call when I was about to go out.

   2. Inducing or stimulating other person to do something.

      さあ、始 (はじ)めよう。

      Sā, hajimeyō.

      Let's get started.

   3. (archaic) Presenting a supposition.

      Synonyms: だろう (darō), でしょう (deshō)

Attaches only to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of Group II (ichidan) and Group III (irregular) verbs.

• 起 (お)きる (okiru) → 起 (お)きよう (oki-yō)
• 食 (た)べる (taberu) → 食 (た)べよう (tabe-yō)
• 来 (く)る (kuru) → 来 (こ)よう (ko-yō)
• する (suru) → しよう (shi-yō)

The volitional form of Group I (godan) verbs are formed with う (-u) instead of よう (-yō), with further sound changes.

In traditional Japanese grammar, this is a 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”), with the sole form よう (yō) as the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and the 連体形 (rentaikei, “adnominal form”).

• う (-u)
• む (-mu)
• ん (-n)

• IPA^(key): [jo̞ː]

よう (rōmaji yō)

1. A very informal greeting similar to yo.

   よう、元 (げん)気 (き)？

   Yō, genki?

   Yo! Howdy?

2. A very informal (rude) interjection similar to hey.

   よう、待 (ま)てよ。

   Yō, mateyo.

   Hey, wait.

Women or gentlemen generally use ねえ (nē) instead of よう (yō). よう (yō) is masculine but gives a rude impression at times; ねえ (nē) is more graceful.

• やあ (yā)
• ねえ (nē)
• オッス (ossu)