STANDARD CLASSICAL FORMS. log
and in the conversation of pedantic speakers, the "attribu- 'tive form " in ki may still sometimes be heard. It is uni- versally employed in the case of the word bcki, a sort of verbal adjective corresponding to our termination "...ble," as shinzu-beki, " credible ; " osoru-beki, " terrible."
N. B. The corresponding conclusive form beshi is no longer employed by educated speakers ; but the bci perpetually heard at the end of sentences from the lips of the lowest classes, and signifying "shall," "will," "must," is a corruption of it.
H 179. The "conclusive form" in shi is still used in the words nashi, "non-existent," "is not," and yoshi, "good," concurrently with the commoner forms nai and jw, thus :
Everything'.' (is) non-
,*g.n.) annimonai. ***" **' There ls
j nothing. Yoshi, yoshi ! All right! It is also still to be heard in such emphatic locutions as
Samusa wa samtishi.} It is cold, or It was cold, or, 8*4l**-riM>,(**fAJit is cold and a vengeance.
Kurasa wa kuraslii. It is dark, etc.
180. The third classical termination of adjectives is ku. It corresponds to the indefinite form of verbs, and its original function is that of predicate at the end of every clause of a sentence excepting the last, which alone takes the conclusive termination shi. Thus :
Yania takakn, kiko
jinka
The mountains (of a certain country) are high, its climate is cold, and the human dwellings there are few.
