Components

Grammar detail: うた / もうた past form

うた / もうた past form  archaic + Kansai form
229 words
My current mastery of this grammar point:
LOG IN to view grammar mastery data
The past form ending in ~うた instead of ~った is sometimes seen. It is a classical form which has persisted in certain regional dialects including the Kansai dialect.
This form is a variant of the standard past form った for verbs ending in う.
It is commonly encountered with しまう: the standard past form is しまった, and in the うた form, the ま changes to も and the っ changes to う to make しもうた.
わからないうち
をうしなって
しもうた
Before I knew it I fainted …
It is also seen with
う (
うた),
う (
うた),
うしな
う (
うしの
うた) etc - in these cases, the っ changes to う and the other sounds remain the same.
The difference arises because many modern Japanese verbs have evolved from classical verbs, but in some cases some of the older forms have persisted either in dialects or as irregular forms of modern verbs.
In modern Japanese this is simply a different form, but in classical Japanese it adds a nuance of doing something 'with grace'.
われわれ
我々
せいめい
生命
あた
えた
かみ
われわれ
我々
どうじ
同時
じゆう
自由
あた
たも
うた

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.
In this example, as with しまう, the ま becomes も. The classical verb was actually たまふ, but in modern Japanese has become たまう - this transition is known as ('u' sound change).
The same change can be seen in the classical te form:
ねま
寝間
おもてざしき
表座敷
とちゅう
途中
こうぎ
講義
しつ
あって
かべ
沿
うて
ほんばこ
本箱
うずたか
げてあった

Between the bedroom and the front parlor was a lecture room, with bookcases piled high against the walls.
Note that various forms of もうた can be encountered in classical literature. For example, the modern
わす
れてしまった can be found as 忘れてしもうた、忘れてしもた、忘れてもた、忘れてもうた.
Please LOG IN for free flashcards

Kanji used in this grammar

ゴ   いつ-    いつ five   
ダン    grade, step, stairs   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
モン   と question   と to ask   とん wholesale   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ゲン   ゴン   say; word   こと word, saying   い to say   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
シツ   うしな to lose   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
オン   イン   sound   おと    ね    
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
便
convenience; tidings   ビン tidings   ベン convenience   たよ tidings, news   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ボウ   わすれる to forget   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
キ   ケ    spirit   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ガ   I; myself   われ    わが-    
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
(kanji repetition symbol)   
セイ   ショウ    life   なま raw   いかす to enliven   いきる to live   いける to arrange flowers   うまれる to be born   う to give birth to   き pure, undiluted   お to grow, to sprout   はえる to grow, to sprout   はやす to grow, cultivate   
メイ   ミョウ    life; fate   いのち life   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ヨ   あたえる to grant, give, bestow   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
シン   ジン   かみ    かん-    こう- god   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ドウ   おな same   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ジ   とき time, occasion   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ジ   シ   みずか self   
ユ   ユウ   ユイ   よし reason   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
キュウ    supply   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
シン   ねかす to lay down   ね to sleep, to lie down   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
カン   ケン   あいだ interval, between   ま space, room   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ヒョウ   おもて surface, front   あらわ to show, to represent   あらわれる to be present, to appear   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ザ   すわ to sit   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
フ   し to spread out, to lay   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ト   road
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
チュウ   ジュウ   なか middle   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
コウ    lecture   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ギ    honour   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
シツ   room   むろ drying room, hothouse   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ヘキ   かべ wall   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
沿
エン   そ to run parallel to, follow, run along   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ホン   book   もと origin   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
はこ box   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
タイ    piled high   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
セキ   つ to load, to heap up   つもる to be piled up   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ジョウ   ショウ   うえ above   うわ- above   あげる to raise   あがる to rise   かみ first half, upper part   のぼ to climb   のぼせる to bring up, to raise   のぼ to bring up   
Problem with this grammar? Question or comment? Please CONTACT US.
Kanshudo is your AI Japanese tutor, and your constant companion on the road to mastery of the Japanese language. To get started learning Japanese, just follow the study recommendations on your Dashboard. You can use Quick search (accessible using the icon at the top of every page) to look up any Japanese word, kanji or grammar point, as well as to find anything on Kanshudo quickly. For an overview, take the tour.
×