居る

/wiru/ → /iru/

From Old Japanese. Found in the Nihon Shoki, completed around 720 CE.[1]

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) いる [ìrú] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [iɾɯ̟ᵝ]

居る (intransitive, ichidan conjugation, hiragana いる, rōmaji iru, historical hiragana ゐる)

1. (of animate objects) to exist, to be

   鈴木 (すずき)ですが、田中 (たなか)さんいますか？

   Suzuki desu ga, Tanaka-san imasu ka?

   This is Suzuki calling; may I speak to Tanaka?

   (literally, “[This] is Suzuki; is Tanaka present?”)

   あなたがいないと何 (なに)もできない

   anata ga inai to nani mo dekinai

   I can't do anything if you aren't here/there

   君 (きみ)がいた夏 (なつ)

   kimi ga ita natsu

   the summer you were there [with me; by my side]

   君 (きみ)といた夏 (なつ)

   kimi to ita natsu

   the summer [I] was with you

2. (of animate objects) to have

   彼氏 (かれし)いますか？

   Kareshi imasu ka?

   Do you have a boyfriend?

3. (after a verb in the て conjunctive form) to be (doing); indicates a progressive or continuous sense; See ている

   朝 (あさ)ご飯 (はん)を食 (た)べていますか？

   Asagohan o tabete imasu ka?

   Are you eating breakfast?

4. (Classical Japanese) to sit
   • c. late 9th – mid-10th century, Taketori Monogatari

     それを見 (み)れば、三 (さん)寸 (すん)ばかりなる人 (ひと)いと美 (うつく)しうて居 (ゐ)たり。

     Sore wo mireba, sansun bakari naru fito ito utukusiute witari (Classical pronunciation)
     Sore o mireba, sansun bakari naru hito ito utsukushūte itari. (modern pronunciation)

     When he looked at it, there sat a very lovely human being about three sun long.

• This term is usually written in hiragana (i.e. as いる).

• (dialectal) 居 (お)る (oru) (see below)
• 有 (あ)る, 在 (あ)る (aru, “of inanimate objects: to be”)

/woru/ → /oru/

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[3]

Listed in some sources[1][2] as derived from the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) wi of verb wiru (see above) + ある (aru). The conjugation paradigm for woru is indeed the same as aru for Classical and Old Japanese. However, the compounded wiaru form would ordinarily become yaru or eru via historical phonetic change, and the vowel shift to /o/ is unexplainable in this hypothesis.

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) お​る [óꜜrù] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [o̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

居る (intransitive, godan conjugation, hiragana おる, rōmaji oru, historical hiragana をる)

1. (of animate objects) to exist, to be, to have
   • むかしあるところに一人 (ひとり)の欲 (よく)ばりの坊 (ぼう)さんがおりました。

     Mukashi aru tokoro ni hitori no yokubari no bōsan ga orimashita.

     Once upon a time, there was a grasping priest somewhere.

2. (after a verb in the て conjunctive form) to be (doing): indicates a progressive or continuous sense; the verb ending -ておる (-te oru) is often contracted to とる (-toru)
   • ぼくは眼 (め)をほそめて海 (うみ)を見 (み)ておった

     Boku wa me o hosomete umi o miteotta

     I was staring at the sea with a squinted eye

3. (Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu, after a verb in the conjunctive form) to be (doing); a continuous sense; often transformed to よる (yoru)
   • 毎朝 (まいあさ)、私 (わたし)、観音様 (かんのんさま)にお願 (がん)を掛 (か)けよるんじゃものきっと通 (とお)るわ。

     Maiasa, watashi, Kannon-sama ni o-gan o kakeyoru n ja mono kitto tōru wa.

     Since I am making a wish to Kannon every morning, he will certainly pass his exams.

• A variation of いる (iru) used mainly in western Japan.
• In standard Japanese, it is usually used in humble language (謙譲語) or polite language (丁寧語) as おります form or in certain archaic/literary expressions.