憩う

Japanese

Kanji in this term
憩
いこ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
息う

Etymology

From Old Japanese. Attested in the Nihon Ryōiki (810-824). Also cited to the Nihon Shoki of 720,^[1] however, that may only be traceable to supplemental glosses added later to the kanbun original. In turn, from Proto-Japonic *yukəpu.

Considering the senses, and that the alternative kanji spelling with 息 was used for the Nihon Shoki kana gloss attestation, the term is likely derived from, or otherwise related to, 息 (iki, “breath, breathing”).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) いこう [ìkóꜜù] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [iko̞ɯ̟]

Verb

憩(いこ)う • (ikou) ^{←いこふ (ikofu)^?}intransitive godan (stem 憩(いこ)い (ikoi), past 憩(いこ)った (ikotta))

[from early 800s] to take a breather, to rest, to repose
Synonyms: 息を継ぐ (iki o tsugu), 休息する (kyūsoku suru), 休憩する (kyūkei suru)

Conjugation

Conjugation of "憩う" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	憩わ	いこわ	ikowa
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	憩い	いこい	ikoi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	憩う	いこう	ikou
Rentaikei ("attributive")	憩う	いこう	ikou
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	憩え	いこえ	ikoe
Meireikei ("imperative")	憩え	いこえ	ikoe
Key constructions
Passive	憩われる	いこわれる	ikowareru
Causative	憩わせる憩わす	いこわせるいこわす	ikowaseru ikowasu
Potential	憩える	いこえる	ikoeru
Volitional	憩おう	いこおう	ikoō
Negative	憩わない	いこわない	ikowanai
Negative continuative	憩わず	いこわず	ikowazu
Formal	憩います	いこいます	ikoimasu
Perfective	憩った	いこった	ikotta
Conjunctive	憩って	いこって	ikotte
Hypothetical conditional	憩えば	いこえば	ikoeba

Verb

憩(いこ)う • (ikou) ^{←いこふ (ikofu)^?}transitive ^†yodan

[883 – ???] (Classical Japanese, archaic, possibly obsolete) to give someone a break, to make someone rest
Synonyms: 休ます (yasumasu, causative of 休む (yasumu)), 休息させる (kyūsoku saseru, modern causative of 休息する (kyūsoku suru))

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "憩ふ" (ハ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	憩は	いこは	ikofa
Continuative (連用形)	憩ひ	いこひ	ikofi
Terminal (終止形)	憩ふ	いこふ	ikofu
Attributive (連体形)	憩ふ	いこふ	ikofu
Realis (已然形)	憩へ	いこへ	ikofe
Imperative (命令形)	憩へ	いこへ	ikofe
Key constructions
Negative	憩はず	いこはず	ikofazu
Contrasting conjunction	憩へど	いこへど	ikofedo
Causal conjunction	憩へば	いこへば	ikofeba
Conditional conjunction	憩はば	いこはば	ikofaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	憩ひき	いこひき	ikofiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	憩ひけり	いこひけり	ikofikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	憩ひつ	いこひつ	ikofitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	憩ひぬ	いこひぬ	ikofinu
Perfect-continuative tense	憩へり憩ひたり	いこへりいこひたり	ikoferi ikofitari
Volitional	憩はむ	いこはむ	ikofamu

Verb

憩(いこ)う • (ikou) ^{←いこふ (ikofu)^?}transitive ^†nidan

[720 – ???] (Classical Japanese, archaic, possibly obsolete) to give someone a break, to make someone rest

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "憩ふ" (ハ行下二段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	憩へ	いこへ	ikofe
Continuative (連用形)	憩へ	いこへ	ikofe
Terminal (終止形)	憩ふ	いこふ	ikofu
Attributive (連体形)	憩ふる	いこふる	ikofuru
Realis (已然形)	憩ふれ	いこふれ	ikofure
Imperative (命令形)	憩へよ	いこへよ	ikofeyo
Key constructions
Negative	憩へず	いこへず	ikofezu
Contrasting conjunction	憩ふれど	いこふれど	ikofuredo
Causal conjunction	憩ふれば	いこふれば	ikofureba
Conditional conjunction	憩へば	いこへば	ikofeba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	憩へき	いこへき	ikofeki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	憩へけり	いこへけり	ikofekeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	憩へつ	いこへつ	ikofetu
Perfect tense (natural event)	憩へぬ	いこへぬ	ikofenu
Perfect-continuative tense	憩へたり	いこへたり	ikofetari
Volitional	憩へむ	いこへむ	ikofemu

References

^ “憩・息”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJC-1] “憩・息”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK5-4] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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