The Japanese Imperative

Following the written record of Japanese we can observe how both the general grammatical system and the imperative system have changed considerably. The diachronic and synchronic study of the imperative system of Japanese can contribute to our knowledge about the relationship between imperatives, politeness systems, and processes of grammaticalization in general.

The use of directive constructions other than the morphological imperative is very
prevalent in Japanese. Following the written record of Japanese we can observe how both the general grammatical system and the imperative system have changed considerably. Many of the command and request constructions in Modern Japanese are grammaticalizations of originally unrelated forms. These forms correspond to all levels of the politeness system, with honorific, moderate, and highly informal variants available.
The diachronic and synchronic study of the imperative system of Japanese can be fruitful in contributing to our knowledge about the relationship between imperatives, politeness systems, and processes of grammaticalization in general.