Questions about 背負う


`背負う` is pronounced `せおう`, but many dictionaries also list a second
pronunciation as `しょう`.

  1. I've never heard it pronounced as `しょう` in practice. In what situations does it have this pronunciation? Is that only an archaic pronunciation, or is it still in use? Is it a regional/dialectical thing? Is one free to pronounce it with either way, unrestricted?

  2. `せおう` (or `おう`, rather) conjugates as a `五段`. Does `しょう` also conjugate as a `五段`?

>   * ます形 → しょいます
>   * ない形 → しょわない
>   * ～て･た形 → しょって・た
>   * 命令形 → しょえ
>   * 仮定形 → しょえば
>   * 可能形 → しょえる
>   * 意志形 → しょおう
>




The only difference I perceive is that しょう sounds slightly more "intimate" as
if it's a regional dialect. But this doesn't mean せおう is less of everyday
language. Probably I feel this way because the pronunciation is a naturally
slurred version of せおう (i.e., /seo/ -> /syo/), which is most likely the result
of a natural sound shift like
[音便](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9F%B3%E4%BE%BF).

The tricky thing is that しょう here is not a homonym of しょう as in 賞, 章, and 小.
While they look exactly the same in kana, しょう as 背負う does not have the double
mora お. It's しょ as one mora plus う as another mora, i.e., it's not the same
pronunciation as しょー.

As for its conjugation, it's 五段 as you guessed.




One can hear しょって used often when talking about rucksacks or backpacks.

> リュックサックを[背負]{しょ}って[歩]{ある}く

There isn't really much difference (しょう pronunciation is from せおう anyway),
though, and people use them quite interchangeably. Though, sometimes the
nuance of しょう can be such that it is [迷惑]{めいわく}...

However, there is one situation, when one's talking about someone being vain
or full of themselves, where one can use しょってる and not せおってる. One hears this
usage often in [落語]{らくご}...

