食べる

Japanese
Kanji in this term
食
た
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Etymology

From earlier Old Japanese form 食ぶ (tabu, “to (humbly) receive or get”, from a superior), a verb with the 下二段 (shimo nidan) or lower bigrade conjugation pattern. This was the humble form of 賜ぶ, 給ぶ (tabu, “to (deign to) give”, to an inferior), a verb with the full 四段 (yodan) or quadrigrade conjugation pattern.[1][2]

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.

Most likely cognate with 給う (tamau, “to give”, as a superior gives a thing to, or does something for, an inferior).

Compare the historical development of meaning from “to humbly receive” → “to eat”, with the modern use of the humble verb 頂く (itadaku, “to receive”) just before eating, in a sense of “I humbly receive this food.”

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) たべ​る [tàbéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])[2]
  • IPA(key): [ta̠be̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]
  • Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "食べる"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形)
Attributive (連体形)		 食べる たべ​る [tàbéꜜrù]
Imperative (命令形) 食べろ たべ​ろ [tàbéꜜrò]
Key constructions
Passive 食べられる たべられ​る [tàbéráréꜜrù]
Causative 食べさせる たべさせ​る [tàbésáséꜜrù]
Potential 食べられる たべられ​る [tàbéráréꜜrù]
Volitional 食べよう たべよ​ー [tàbéyóꜜò]
Negative 食べない たべ​ない [tàbéꜜnàì]
Negative perfective 食べなかった たべ​なかった [tàbéꜜnàkàttà]
Formal 食べます たべま​す [tàbémáꜜsù]
Perfective 食べた た​べた [táꜜbètà]
Conjunctive 食べて た​べて [táꜜbètè]
Hypothetical conditional 食べれば たべ​れば [tàbéꜜrèbà]

Verb

食(た)べる • (taberu) transitive ichidan (stem 食(た)べ (tabe), past 食(た)べた (tabeta))

  1. to eat
    ご飯(はん)を食(た)べる
    go-han o taberu
    to eat a meal
    箸(はし)で食(た)べる
    hashi de taberu
    to eat with chopsticks
    今日(きょう)は、寿司(すし)を食(た)べに銀座(ぎんざ)に行(い)きます。
    Kyō wa, sushi o tabe ni Ginza ni ikimasu.
    I'll go to Ginza today to eat sushi.
    食(た)べていくために
    tabeteiku tame ni
    in order to make a living (lit. in order to keep eating)
  2. (archaic, humble) to eat or drink
    • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho (page 594)
      Tabe, uru, eta. タベ, ブル, ベタ (食べ, ぶる, べた) 食う, または, 飲む.

Conjugation
Conjugation of "食べる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 食べ たべ tabe
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 食べ たべ tabe
Shūshikei ("terminal") 食べる たべる taberu
Rentaikei ("attributive") 食べる たべる taberu
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 食べれ たべれ tabere
Meireikei ("imperative") 食べよ¹
食べろ²		 たべよ¹
たべろ²		 tabeyo¹
tabero²
Key constructions
Passive 食べられる たべられる taberareru
Causative 食べさせる
食べさす		 たべさせる
たべさす		 tabesaseru
tabesasu
Potential 食べられる
食べれる³		 たべられる
たべれる³		 taberareru
tabereru³
Volitional 食べよう たべよう tabeyō
Negative 食べない
食べぬ
食べん		 たべない
たべぬ
たべん		 tabenai
tabenu
taben
Negative continuative 食べず たべず tabezu
Formal 食べます たべます tabemasu
Perfective 食べた たべた tabeta
Conjunctive 食べて たべて tabete
Hypothetical conditional 食べれば たべれば tabereba
¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

Synonyms
Synonyms

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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