負ける

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
負
ま Grade: 3
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese 負く (maku), in the 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) pattern, from Proto-Japonic *mak-a-.

Development

Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.

First attested in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) まける [màkérú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[1]
IPA^(key): [ma̠ke̞ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「負ける」

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	負ける	まける	`[màkérú]`
Imperative (命令形)	負けろ	まけろ	`[màkéró]`
Key constructions
Passive	負けられる	まけられる	`[màkérárérú]`
Causative	負けさせる	まけさせる	`[màkésásérú]`
Potential	負けられる	まけられる	`[màkérárérú]`
Volitional	負けよう	まけよー	`[màkéyóꜜò]`
Negative	負けない	まけない	`[màkénáí]`
Negative perfective	負けなかった	まけなかった	`[màkénáꜜkàttà]`
Formal	負けます	まけます	`[màkémáꜜsù]`
Perfective	負けた	まけた	`[màkétá]`
Conjunctive	負けて	まけて	`[màkété]`
Hypothetical conditional	負ければ	まければ	`[màkéréꜜbà]`

(Kyoto) まける [mákérú] (Kōki – [0])^[1]

Verb

負(ま)ける • (makeru) transitive or intransitive ichidan (stem 負(ま)け (make), past 負(ま)けた (maketa))

Japanese verb pair
active	負かす
mediopassive	負ける
Sense: "to lose"

Japanese verb pair
active	負ける
mediopassive	負かる
Sense: "to reduce price"

(intransitive) to lose; to be defeated
Antonym: 勝つ (katsu)
(transitive) to lower in price

Conjugation

Conjugation of "負ける" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	負け	まけ	make
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	負け	まけ	make
Shūshikei ("terminal")	負ける	まける	makeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	負ける	まける	makeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	負けれ	まけれ	makere
Meireikei ("imperative")	負けよ¹ 負けろ²	まけよ¹ まけろ²	makeyo¹ makero²
Key constructions
Passive	負けられる	まけられる	makerareru
Causative	負けさせる負けさす	まけさせるまけさす	makesaseru makesasu
Potential	負けられる負けれる³	まけられるまけれる³	makerareru makereru³
Volitional	負けよう	まけよう	makeyō
Negative	負けない負けぬ負けん	まけないまけぬまけん	makenai makenu maken
Negative continuative	負けず	まけず	makezu
Formal	負けます	まけます	makemasu
Perfective	負けた	まけた	maketa
Conjunctive	負けて	まけて	makete
Hypothetical conditional	負ければ	まければ	makereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Derived terms

負(ま)け (make, “defeat”)
負(ま)け惜(お)しみ (makeoshimi, “sour grapes”)

Related terms

負(ま)かす (makasu)

Suffix

負(ま)ける • (-makeru) ichidan (stem 負(ま)け (-make), past 負(ま)けた (-maketa))

to lose when doing something
Antonym: 勝つ (katsu)

早押(はやお)しクイズで押(お)し負(ま)ける
hayaoshi kuizu de oshi-makeru
to lose to someone in a quiz by pressing the buzzer too slow

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 “ま・ける【負】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NKD2O-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 “ま・ける【負】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

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

[1]

[2]