On 重んじる and 重んずる


More from the JLPT1 vocabulary list.

I've been presented with 重んじる and 重んずる, both given as transitives and with the
meaning _to prize, to honour, to esteem_.

Is there a difference in nuance between the two? Are they interchangeable?

A bunch of examples are given for 重んじる but not 重んずる. Is the latter outdated?

Lastly I've seen more of these pairs (which I don't recall at the moment). Is
there a general rule to be said about these verb endings?

I apologize for the many questions, let me know if it needs a split.

よろしくお願いします。




> Is there a difference in nuance between the two? Are they interchangeable?

The only noteworthy difference between 「～～じる」 and 「～～ずる」 is that the former
sounds "lighter", "less literary", "less formal", etc. than the latter.

There is no difference in meaning between the two forms. Thus, for the pure
purpose of maintaining the meaning, one could say that the two are
interchangeable.

**IMPORTANT** : Language, however, is never very simple and therefore, if you
changed one word in a sentence, you might need to change some others as well
to retain the level of formality, literary feel, etc. of the original
sentence.

> Is the latter outdated?

No, hardly not. You will encounter the 「～～ずる」 form quite often in more serious
and/or formal kinds of writings/speeches.

It is just not used very often on the street, so to speak.

> Lastly I've seen more of these pairs (which I don't recall at the moment).
> Is there a general rule to be said about these verb endings?

What does exist is more a tendency than a rule; In fact, there is no such
rule. 「～～ずる」 tends to be used more often in social sciences than in natural
sciences. As a Japanese-speaker, if I were asked where I would see/hear 「～～ずる」
most often, I would tend to think of proverbs, philosophical sayings, or for a
lack of word, "more profound statements" in general.




> Is there a difference in nuance between the two? Are they interchangeable?

The only noteworthy difference between 「～～じる」 and 「～～ずる」 is that the former
sounds "lighter", "less literary", "less formal", etc. than the latter.

There is no difference in meaning between the two forms. Thus, for the pure
purpose of maintaining the meaning, one could say that the two are
interchangeable.

**IMPORTANT** : Language, however, is never very simple and therefore, if you
changed one word in a sentence, you might need to change some others as well
to retain the level of formality, literary feel, etc. of the original
sentence.

> Is the latter outdated?

No, hardly not. You will encounter the 「～～ずる」 form quite often in more serious
and/or formal kinds of writings/speeches.

It is just not used very often on the street, so to speak.

> Lastly I've seen more of these pairs (which I don't recall at the moment).
> Is there a general rule to be said about these verb endings?

What does exist is more a tendency than a rule; In fact, there is no such
rule. 「～～ずる」 tends to be used more often in social sciences than in natural
sciences. As a Japanese-speaker, if I were asked where I would see/hear 「～～ずる」
most often, I would tend to think of proverbs, philosophical sayings, or for a
lack of word, "more profound statements" in general.

