総統

Japanese

Kanji in this term
総	統
そう Grade: 5	とう Grade: 5
kan’on	on’yomi

Alternative spelling
總統 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Ultimate derivation unclear. May be a coinage in Japan from Middle Chinese-derived elements, as a compound of 総 (sō, “all, everything”) +‎ 統 (tō, “rule, govern”).

First cited in Japanese to a text from 1869.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) そーとー [sòótóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [so̞ːto̞ː]

Noun

総(そう)統(とう) • (sōtō) 

1. [from 1869] (archaic) general control over something; a person or official position with such control
2. [from roughly 1912] (government, politics, uncommon, China) president
3. [from 1930s?] (government, politics) generalissimo (such as Benito Mussolini of Italy), caudillo (such as Francisco Franco of Spain)
4. [from 1934] (historical) the Führer — Adolf Hitler as the chancellor of Nazi Germany

Usage notes

The term is usually used to describe dictatorial or fascist politicians who are not monarchs. 大統領(だいとうりょう) (daitōryō) is used instead on elected politicians, even if they are nominally elected. An exception is the president of the Republic of China, where the term 総統 is an orthographic borrowing from Chinese 總統／总统 (zǒngtǒng).

See also

• 大統領(だいとうりょう) (daitōryō, “president”)

Verb

総(そう)統(とう)する • (sōtō suru) suru (stem 総(そう)統(とう)し (sōtō shi), past 総(そう)統(とう)した (sōtō shita))

1. [from 1869] (archaic) to have or exercise general control over something

   Synonym: 統べ括る (subekukuru)

Conjugation

Conjugation of "総統する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	総統し	そうとうし	sōtō shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	総統し	そうとうし	sōtō shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	総統する	そうとうする	sōtō suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	総統する	そうとうする	sōtō suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	総統すれ	そうとうすれ	sōtō sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	総統せよ¹ 総統しろ²	そうとうせよ¹ そうとうしろ²	sōtō seyo¹ sōtō shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	総統される	そうとうされる	sōtō sareru
Causative	総統させる 総統さす	そうとうさせる そうとうさす	sōtō saseru sōtō sasu
Potential	総統できる	そうとうできる	sōtō dekiru
Volitional	総統しよう	そうとうしよう	sōtō shiyō
Negative	総統しない	そうとうしない	sōtō shinai
Negative continuative	総統せず	そうとうせず	sōtō sezu
Formal	総統します	そうとうします	sōtō shimasu
Perfective	総統した	そうとうした	sōtō shita
Conjunctive	総統して	そうとうして	sōtō shite
Hypothetical conditional	総統すれば	そうとうすれば	sōtō sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative