Sunday, May 21, 2017

words - Kanji or kana in お待ちください


It's considered proper (though often ignored) to write ください in 待ってください and 下さい in 赤いのを下さい, i.e. Kanji as a main verb and kana as an auxilliary. But a thought came into my mind: in お待ちください, is it an auxilliary and thus ください, or is it rather a main verb wanting the Kanji?


(Of course, using the kana would be correct in any context. I was just wondering if お待ち下さい was correct.)



Answer



I think ください in お待ちください is an auxiliary verb, and thus should be written in kana according to the "proper rule". Few people strictly obey this, as you know.



待っ and 待ち are both 連用形 (te-form) of 待つ, and 待っ is 促音便 of 待ち. I've never seen such an argument that one should use kana in 待ってください but kanji in お待ち下さい, or kana in 来てください but kanji in お越し下さい.


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