Whereas the main phonological changes between OJ and NJ took place during the EMJ period, it was during the LMJ period that most of the significant grammatical changes took place which transformed Japanese from its premodern to its contemporary shape in both morphology and syntax. The course and precise dating of some changes is difficult to trace through the written sources; they are mainly observable in the sources dating from the end of the period. It may be no coincidence that sweeping changes took place during a period of civil war and great social upheaval and change which also would have resulted in a relaxation of social and linguistic norms.

Verb morphology

Inflected verb forms

Table 12.1 shows the main inflected verb forms at the end of the LMJ period.

Comparing this inflectional paradigm with that of EMJ in 8.1.1 above shows that among the finite forms from the EMJ paradigm the only surviving category is the imperative, which acquired a new variant shape in -i with the vowel base verbs, alternating with the older ending -yo; see 12.3 below for the shapes with all conjugation classes. Other EMJ forms were either lost or reinterpreted, and new forms had appeared. The loss of the exclamatory, conclusive and adnominal verb forms will be discussed in 12.1.2 and the emergence of the nonpast, past, intentional and volitional forms in 12.1.3.