What's the etymology of まほし?


What's the etymology of まほし? Considering it goes after the 未然形, is it
something like む -> ま (未然形) + [欲]{ほ}し, or is it a totally different etymology
altogether?

Thanks in advance.




The _-(a)maposi_ optative auxiliary adjective is indeed connected with ほし
"want," but the first part is different. It is derived from the simplification
of _-(a)maku [nö] posi,_ where:

  * _-(a)m-_ is trivially the ordinary modal (Classical む／ん);
  * _-aku_ is the nominal ending;
  * _posi_ is ほし "is desirable."

In Nara Old Japanese, the construction is still attested in the non-contracted
form:

栲領巾乃懸巻欲寸妹名乎 (MYS 3.285)  
taku pire-nö **kakë-m-aku posi** -ki imo=nö na=wo  
"I want to say the name of my love as if hang the scarf of mulberry"

Literally, "hanging is desirable." When the nominal form in _-aku_ was lost,
the construction was grammaticalized.

In Old Japanese, _-(a)maku [nö] posi_ is only used with a limited series of
verbs (citing Vovin): _kakë-_ 'to hang = to mention,' _kagapur-_ 'to obtain,'
_kik-_ 'to hear, to listen,' _mor-_ 'to guard, to protect,' _mi-_ 'to see, to
look,' _sömë-_ 'to dye,' _ne-_ 'to sleep.' Since Heian, the grammaticalized
descendant loses these limitations, and even in Taketori we find:

あるいはをのがゆかまほしきところへいぬ "As for some, they went towards the place they wanted **to
go** ," with _yuk-_ "to go" not in the previous list. Probably this implies it
was completely analyzed as a part of the verb's conjugation pattern.

Sources and further reading:

  * Frellesvig, Bjarke - A History of the Japanese Language - Cambridge University Press (2010), pp. 240-2
  * [Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 5 Japan 16] Vovin, Alexander - A Descriptive and Comparative Grammar of Western Old Japanese (2 Vols.) - Brill (2020), pp. 694-8.




The _-(a)maposi_ optative auxiliary adjective is indeed connected with ほし
"want," but the first part is different. It is derived from the simplification
of _-(a)maku [nö] posi,_ where:

  * _-(a)m-_ is trivially the ordinary modal (Classical む／ん);
  * _-aku_ is the nominal ending;
  * _posi_ is ほし "is desirable."

In Nara Old Japanese, the construction is still attested in the non-contracted
form:

栲領巾乃懸巻欲寸妹名乎 (MYS 3.285)  
taku pire-nö **kakë-m-aku posi** -ki imo=nö na=wo  
"I want to say the name of my love as if hang the scarf of mulberry"

Literally, "hanging is desirable." When the nominal form in _-aku_ was lost,
the construction was grammaticalized.

In Old Japanese, _-(a)maku [nö] posi_ is only used with a limited series of
verbs (citing Vovin): _kakë-_ 'to hang = to mention,' _kagapur-_ 'to obtain,'
_kik-_ 'to hear, to listen,' _mor-_ 'to guard, to protect,' _mi-_ 'to see, to
look,' _sömë-_ 'to dye,' _ne-_ 'to sleep.' Since Heian, the grammaticalized
descendant loses these limitations, and even in Taketori we find:

あるいはをのがゆかまほしきところへいぬ "As for some, they went towards the place they wanted **to
go** ," with _yuk-_ "to go" not in the previous list. Probably this implies it
was completely analyzed as a part of the verb's conjugation pattern.

Sources and further reading:

  * Frellesvig, Bjarke - A History of the Japanese Language - Cambridge University Press (2010), pp. 240-2
  * [Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 5 Japan 16] Vovin, Alexander - A Descriptive and Comparative Grammar of Western Old Japanese (2 Vols.) - Brill (2020), pp. 694-8.

