変身

Japanese

Kanji in this term
変	身
へん Grade: 4	しん Grade: 3
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
變身 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Probably from Middle Chinese as compound 變身 (MC pˠiᴇnH ɕiɪn, “change” + “body; self”). Compare modern Mandarin 變身／变身 (biànshēn).

First attested in Japanese in 1060.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) へんしん [hèńshíń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [hẽ̞ɰ̃ɕĩɴ]

Noun

変(へん)身(しん) • (henshin) 

1. [from 1060] a transformation of one's appearance
2. [from 1060] shapeshifting, a transformation of one's body, particularly of a human into some other creature or form
3. [from 1060] an appearance or body so transformed

See also

• 変(か)わり身(み) (kawarimi)

Interjection

変(へん)身(しん) • (henshin) 

1. (fiction) Transform!

   A shout called out when metamorphising into one's powerful alter-ego. Found in tokusatsu and magical girl fiction.

Verb

変(へん)身(しん)する • (henshin suru) suru (stem 変(へん)身(しん)し (henshin shi), past 変(へん)身(しん)した (henshin shita))

1. to transform one's appearance
2. to shapeshift, to transform physically into some other creature or form

Conjugation

Conjugation of "変身する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	変身し	へんしんし	henshin shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	変身し	へんしんし	henshin shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	変身する	へんしんする	henshin suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	変身する	へんしんする	henshin suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	変身すれ	へんしんすれ	henshin sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	変身せよ¹ 変身しろ²	へんしんせよ¹ へんしんしろ²	henshin seyo¹ henshin shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	変身される	へんしんされる	henshin sareru
Causative	変身させる 変身さす	へんしんさせる へんしんさす	henshin saseru henshin sasu
Potential	変身できる	へんしんできる	henshin dekiru
Volitional	変身しよう	へんしんしよう	henshin shiyō
Negative	変身しない	へんしんしない	henshin shinai
Negative continuative	変身せず	へんしんせず	henshin sezu
Formal	変身します	へんしんします	henshin shimasu
Perfective	変身した	へんしんした	henshin shita
Conjunctive	変身して	へんしんして	henshin shite
Hypothetical conditional	変身すれば	へんしんすれば	henshin sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative