忍ぶ

Japanese

Kanji in this term
忍
しの Grade: S
kun’yomi

Etymology

/sino₂bu/ → /sinobu/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *sinənpu.

First attested as noun sino₂bi in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE, and as the verb in the Man'yōshū of circa 759 CE.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɕino̞bɯ̟ᵝ]

Verb

忍(しの)ぶ • (shinobu) godan (stem 忍(しの)び (shinobi), past 忍(しの)んだ (shinonda))

1. to conceal, to hide
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 6, poem 965:

     凡有者 左毛右毛将為乎 恐跡 振痛袖乎 忍而有香聞

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 11, poem 2478:

     秋柏 潤和川辺 細竹目 人不顏面 公無勝

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. to suppress or hide one's feelings
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 2, poem 129:

     古之 嫗尓為而也 如此許 恋尓将沈 如手童児 _{一云 恋乎大尓忍金手武多和良波乃如}

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 3, poem 472:

     世間之 常如此耳跡 可都知跡 痛情者 不忍都毛

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 11, poem 2590:

     石根踏 夜道不行 念跡 妹依者 忍金津毛

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 11, poem 2635:

     剱刀 身尓佩副流 大夫也 恋云物乎 忍金手武

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 11, poem 2752:

     吾妹児乎 聞都賀野辺能 靡合歓木 吾者隠不得 間無念者

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 12, poem 2987:

     梓弓 引而不緩 大夫哉 恋云物乎 忍不得牟

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 17, poem 3940:

     余呂豆代尓 許己呂波刀気氐 和我世古我 都美之手見都追 志乃備加祢都母

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. to endure, to bear, to restrain oneself
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 12, poem 2911:

     人目多見 眼社忍礼 小毛 心中尓 吾念莫国

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 16, poem 3795:

     辱忍 辱尾黙 无事 物不言先丹 我者将依 二

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

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

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	忍ば	しのば	shinoba
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	忍び	しのび	shinobi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	忍ぶ	しのぶ	shinobu
Rentaikei ("attributive")	忍ぶ	しのぶ	shinobu
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	忍べ	しのべ	shinobe
Meireikei ("imperative")	忍べ	しのべ	shinobe
Key constructions
Passive	忍ばれる	しのばれる	shinobareru
Causative	忍ばせる 忍ばす	しのばせる しのばす	shinobaseru shinobasu
Potential	忍べる	しのべる	shinoberu
Volitional	忍ぼう	しのぼう	shinobō
Negative	忍ばない	しのばない	shinobanai
Negative continuative	忍ばず	しのばず	shinobazu
Formal	忍びます	しのびます	shinobimasu
Perfective	忍んだ	しのんだ	shinonda
Conjunctive	忍んで	しのんで	shinonde
Hypothetical conditional	忍べば	しのべば	shinobeba

Classical conjugation of "忍ぶ" (バ行上二段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	忍び	しのび	sinobi
Continuative (連用形)	忍び	しのび	sinobi
Terminal (終止形)	忍ぶ	しのぶ	sinobu
Attributive (連体形)	忍ぶる	しのぶる	sinoburu
Realis (已然形)	忍ぶれ	しのぶれ	sinobure
Imperative (命令形)	忍びよ	しのびよ	sinobiyo
Key constructions
Negative	忍びず	しのびず	sinobizu
Contrasting conjunction	忍ぶれど	しのぶれど	sinoburedo
Causal conjunction	忍ぶれば	しのぶれば	sinobureba
Conditional conjunction	忍びば	しのびば	sinobiba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	忍びき	しのびき	sinobiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	忍びけり	しのびけり	sinobikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	忍びつ	しのびつ	sinobitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	忍びぬ	しのびぬ	sinobinu
Perfect-continuative tense	忍びたり	しのびたり	sinobitari
Volitional	忍びむ	しのびむ	sinobimu

References

• Satake, Akihiro with Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, and Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 1: Man’yōshū 1 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1999, →ISBN.
• Satake, Akihiro with Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, and Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 2: Man’yōshū 2 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 2000, →ISBN.
• Satake, Akihiro with Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, and Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 3: Man’yōshū 3 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 2002, →ISBN.
• Satake, Akihiro with Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, and Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 4: Man’yōshū 4 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 2003, →ISBN.