Saturday 19 September 2015

How to choose a reading for 降る? ふる & くだる


I always read 降る as ふる but for a particular sentence I noticed that the reading was written as くだる. Are there any tips to help figure out which reading to use?


Examples:



たとえ雨が降ろうとサイクリングにいくぞ。

I will go cycling even if it rains. [M]

目が覚めてみると、雪が降っていた。
I awoke to find it snowing.



I'm not sure if this is user-error. When I click on listen, the woman reads it using ふる, but the software wants me to use くだる. Maybe I should change the question to ask what I should say in my bug report? ☺



Answer



広辞苑 lists both 【下】and【降】in the entry for 【くだる】. It says that【降】is often used when くだる means "going/coming down from a high place to a lower place all at once (as opposed to a gradual descent)" or when it means like "surrendering to an enemy" (降参).


Since the former definition is quite a common occurrence, you might see the 【降】 in written and/or a more 改まった context.


Here is a Bible verse demonstrating the former. As I posted in the comment to the OP, I was a little concerned about posting this, but feel it is directly grammatically related to the question.



「イエスは洗礼を受けると、すぐ水の中から上がられた。そのとき、天がイエスに向かって開いた。イエスは、神の霊が鳩【はと】のように御自分の上に降って来るのを御覧になった。」 マタイによる福音書 3:16




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