Four different verbs meaning "to release": 放す, 放つ, 解き放す, 解き放つ


Consider the following four verbs:

  * 放{はな}す - _hanasu_ ([view in jisho.org](http://jisho.org/word/%E6%94%BE%E3%81%99))
  * 放{はな}つ - _hanatsu_ ([view in jisho.org](http://jisho.org/word/%E6%94%BE%E3%81%A4))
  * 解{と}き放{はな}す - _tokihanasu_ ([view in jisho.org](http://jisho.org/word/%E8%A7%A3%E3%81%8D%E6%94%BE%E3%81%99))
  * 解{と}き放{はな}つ - _tokihanatsu_ ([view in jisho.org](http://jisho.org/word/%E8%A7%A3%E3%81%8D%E6%94%BE%E3%81%A4))

Apparently, they all can mean "release, set free". What are their differences,
if any?




If you shoot, dispatch or emit, you usually _hanatsu_. Arrows, light, smells
and spies are things you _hanatsu_.

If you're setting them free from captivity, I think it's more appropriate to
_hanasu_. Captured fish, poor bound doggies or (more poetically) tied baloons
are things you may _hanasu_.

However, there's some degree of interchangeability; both words may be used
like the other. As expected from the scheme above, right now there's 12100
矢を放つ on Google Books, vs. only 6 矢を放す ; likewise, 7 魚を放つ vs. 429 魚を放す. (There
are, however, a lot of examples of 犬を放つ； but, from a cursory look, they seem
to be more like "set the dogs (on rabbits, etc.)").

解く is "to unfasten". 解き放つ therefore puts extra emphasis on the "freeing from
captivity" nuance: to unbound them and set them free. 解き放す seems to be
functionally a synonym. Some things people are 解き放すing right now on twitter:
curses, myself from the feeling of being locked, your passions, magical swords
(from seals), saved money, my gayness, myself from mental tension. Things
people are 解き放つing: my feelings of gratitude, newly-released fashion products,
the tension of athletes (through smiles), my comrades, The Invincible Sword,
myself from the restraints of modern age, dragons from their fetters,
prisoners. I don't think there's a clear pattern in using one vs. the other,
except that 解き放つ is a lot more common. Many of the examples feel like English
"unleash" to me.

(I'm not a native speaker; this answer is based on dictionaries and online
searches. I'm only answering because no one did so far; if a native speaker
says otherwise, they're right and I'm wrong.)




If you shoot, dispatch or emit, you usually _hanatsu_. Arrows, light, smells
and spies are things you _hanatsu_.

If you're setting them free from captivity, I think it's more appropriate to
_hanasu_. Captured fish, poor bound doggies or (more poetically) tied baloons
are things you may _hanasu_.

However, there's some degree of interchangeability; both words may be used
like the other. As expected from the scheme above, right now there's 12100
矢を放つ on Google Books, vs. only 6 矢を放す ; likewise, 7 魚を放つ vs. 429 魚を放す. (There
are, however, a lot of examples of 犬を放つ； but, from a cursory look, they seem
to be more like "set the dogs (on rabbits, etc.)").

解く is "to unfasten". 解き放つ therefore puts extra emphasis on the "freeing from
captivity" nuance: to unbound them and set them free. 解き放す seems to be
functionally a synonym. Some things people are 解き放すing right now on twitter:
curses, myself from the feeling of being locked, your passions, magical swords
(from seals), saved money, my gayness, myself from mental tension. Things
people are 解き放つing: my feelings of gratitude, newly-released fashion products,
the tension of athletes (through smiles), my comrades, The Invincible Sword,
myself from the restraints of modern age, dragons from their fetters,
prisoners. I don't think there's a clear pattern in using one vs. the other,
except that 解き放つ is a lot more common. Many of the examples feel like English
"unleash" to me.

(I'm not a native speaker; this answer is based on dictionaries and online
searches. I'm only answering because no one did so far; if a native speaker
says otherwise, they're right and I'm wrong.)

