そう common usage

Bunpro
#1

I searched about そう, but nothing quite seemed to talk about what I was looking for.

I’m still relatively new to learning Japanese, and I’m using a few different resources, one of which being Bunpro.
Jake’s 4k deck was a recommended addition to learning more vocab, but I’m a little confused on some things from it, そう being the recent question.
From everything I’ve seen, this is the common usage and the card says it’s an N5 adverb. However the card’s main point at the top is that it’s written as 然う, and そう is the uncommon version which took a lot of digging to even find to find that it’s at best an N3 Kanji, and I couldn’t even find a reading that puts it as そ. (ゼン、ネン) (しか、.り、.し、さ)

So, could anyone weigh in on this? Even if the Kanji does have that meaning, is it actually a synonym? Or is that Kanji how people typically write this?

ありがとうございます。

1 Like
#2

I managed to find it being used in Kanji on jisho.org. It is listed as common word there. It is usually writen using kana alone.

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#3

Just learn そう as a hiragana word, that’s how everybody writes it.

If I try to search for 然う online, pretty much the only results are dictionaries, and learners asking about it. Which is to say, the kanji form seems to be pretty much never used, and it’s best to just ignore it until you actually run into it in practice.

I think this is something Bunpro could improve - change all usually-kana words to shown hiragana version in large friendly letters, and kanji version somewhere in tiny font in a corner, to not confuse users.

If you are more interested in why kanji 然 doesn’t list this reading, a JP-JP dictionary (そうとは？ 意味・読み方・使い方をわかりやすく解説 - goo国語辞書) says it’s a phonetic modification of さ:

「さ（然）」の音変化

2 Likes
#4

I think you might’ve misread the information in the card. It actually says that the kana version is the common one in all 3 definitions of it:

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As has been stated, you can ignore that kanji in this instance since そう is not written with it in everyday usage. However, you’ll see this kanji in words like 全然 (not at all), 当然 (natural) 突然 (suddenly), etc. but not for そう.

#5

My card does not match yours, but you may be right, looking Really closely, it does look like [そう] is in bold. But still as casual said marking words more common in Kanji is an area Bunpro could improve on. This card doesn’t mention it at all like the one you’re showing.

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#6

Thanks for the confirmation, that is really insightful! So kind of like rendaku.

#7

While I’ve used jisho a few times, it’s not in my practice to go to. That said, I don’t have anything bad to say about it, but as you referenced it, you may find this interesting for your studies.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/n144jb/thoughts_on_jisho_httpsjishoorg/

#8

Thank you all for your insights and confirming that そう is the common form!