宣ふのたまう

の

た

ま

う

Meanings

yodan verb with 'hu/fu' ending (archaic), transitive verb

honorific or respectful (sonkeigo)archaic

Archaic honorific verb used to describe the speech of a person of high status, such as an emperor or deity. In modern Japanese, it is only encountered in classical literature or in jocular, exaggerated speech mimicking old-fashioned respectful language. The verb is a yodan verb with the classical ending ふ (modern う).

Kanji

宣proclaim, say, announce
曰say, reason, pretext

Related words

宣のたまう
Modernized spelling of the same verb, sometimes used in contemporary writing to evoke an archaic or highly respectful tone. The classical form 宣ふ is the historical kana usage.
仰おっしゃる
Modern honorific verb for 'to say', used in polite speech. Unlike 宣ふ, 仰る is common in everyday respectful language.

Written forms

宣ふ
- のたまう
  Archaic honorific verb; the kanji 宣 is associated with proclaiming or stating, and the historical kana spelling のたまふ reflects the classical yodan verb.
- のたもう
曰ふ
- のたまう
  Alternate archaic spelling using 曰, which also means 'to say'. Both spellings are rare and found only in classical texts.
- のたもう
のたもう

Etymology

Developed from the classical honorific speech verb のりたまふ, combining 宣る “to declare” with the respectful auxiliary 給ふ; contraction produced のたまふ.