A bit of old fashioned Japanese

So I was reading a book, and a passage seems to be written in some kind of classical Japanese, using ki on i adjectives and sonata and so on.

Anyway they seem to be using the (nai-stem)-n, ending as a positive (I think), where as normally this would definately be a negative so I'm a bit confused. Here is a bit from the passage:

そなたらもまた、闇をまもるヒョウル＜闇の守り人＞とならん。
ヒョウル＜闇の守り人＞となりて、 母なる山の命をまもらん。

also they use narite, there. Is that the classical from of natte?

Also the use of naru there between haha(?) and yama, I have an idea of what thats about but can someone give a good explanation? And of taru when it is used between nouns like that, sorry no example at hand though. I don't think these are clasical Japanese though?

ふるきカンバルの王は死に、新しきカンバルの王うまれたり！
is the tari ending just the past tense?

Thanks for your help!

KrazyKat said:

So I was reading a book, and a passage seems to be written in some kind of classical Japanese, using ki on i adjectives and sonata and so on.

Click to expand...

Yes, you're right, it's written in a kind of classical style.

Anyway they seem to be using the (nai-stem)-n, ending as a positive (I think), where as normally this would definitely be a negative so I'm a bit confused. Here is a bit from the passage:

そなたらもまた、闇をまもるヒョウル＜闇の守り人＞とならん。
ヒョウル＜闇の守り人＞となりて、 母なる山の命をまもらん。

Click to expand...

Actually, the ん here does not derive from ない as you most reasonably thought. It comes from む , which is not used much nowadays. Anyway, it can mean a number of things, but here it means 「しませんか」 or 「しなさい」. So the ならん and まもらん could be written as なりなさい and まもりなさい , respectively, to make it easier to understand.

also they use narite, there. Is that the classical from of natte?

Click to expand...

In a word, yes. There are other pronunciation changes similar to that, too. The changing of 美しき to 美しい is similar.

Also the use of naru there between haha(?) and yama, I have an idea of what that's about but can someone give a good explanation?

Click to expand...

This naru comes from the word なり , which is basically the same as だ or である or です. なり is a kind of verb-like word, so it gets conjugated in different circumstance. When it precedes a noun, なり becomes なる . So here, 母なる山 is the same as 母である山. Make sense?

And of taru when it is used between nouns like that, sorry no example at hand though. I don't think these are classical Japanese though?

Click to expand...

たる here is essentially the same as the explanation above for なる ,but this time it derives from たり . There's probably some kind of nuance distinction, but as far as I know, たり and なり are for all practical purposes the same.

ふるきカンバルの王は死に、新しきカンバルの王うまれたり！
is the tari ending just the past tense?

Click to expand...

Yes.

Thanks for your help!

Click to expand...

Thanks for your patience! Hope this isn't confusing!

That really helps me out, thanks.

No problem! By the way, if I ever make it out to the U.K., we have to meet up! Same goes for if you ever make it out here!

At age 19, my "Japanese self" hadn't even been born yet, and your questions are just....fantastic!