Hachijō grammar

The pronominal system of Hachijō has been partly inherited from Old Japanese and partly borrowed from Modern Japanese:[2]

The pronouns ware, are, unu, and dare often use irregular nominative/genitive forms with ga: waga, aga, uNga, and daga. The form uNga [uŋ.ɡa] can also be pronounced NNga [ŋ̍ː.ɡa].

Hachijō has a variety of nuances among many of its personal pronouns:

Unlike Japanese, both ware and are (and their variants) are considered ordinary and show no particular variations with regard to politeness, honorifics, or humility. Instead, they vary in usage based on the speaker, dialect, and context. For example, it is possible for both to appear in the same utterance:

Other variations include the contraction of -re to -ĭ, and the contraction of -re-wa to -ra or -rja when combined with the topic marker wa. For example, uncontracted ware and warewa would be considered more feminine than contracted waĭ and wara in the Mitsune dialect, whereas in the Uphill dialects, ware and warewa would be the norm (with the contracted forms generally unused).

Like in Japanese, it is most common to refer to an addressee by name rather than by using a pronoun. Nevertheless, several second-person pronouns do exist:

• The pronoun omee is honorific, used for individuals of superior status. As the subject of a clause, omee is generally used with other honorific vocabulary such as the verbs ozjarowa ("to go, to come") and tamourowa ("to give").
• The pronoun omi is polite, used for individuals whom the speaker wants to respect, but for whom the honorific omee would be excessively formal. Aside from a handful of polite verbs like wasowa ("to go, to come") and gouzirowa ("to see"), sentences with omi generally use ordinary vocabulary. The form omi is never seen without a particle.
• The pronoun omaĭ is between omi and unu, used of those of equal or lower status. It is mildly informal or neutral, and it is often used in place of unu when people outside of the speaker's in-group are present. It is a comparatively new pronoun.
• The pronoun unu is very informal or familiar, and it is used for family members, and close friends. However it can be somewhat rude or vulgar, depending on the dialect.
• The pronoun nare is offensive and shows contempt, being used when fighting, arguing, scolding, etc.

The second-person pronouns omee, omi and omaĭ originate in borrowings of Japanese お前 omae "you." In modern Japanese, omae is familiar or derogatory, but it formerly had a respectful meaning, and it is in this respectful usage that it was borrowed into Hachijō.

The pronoun unu has cognates in Old and Middle Japanese 己 ono₂ ~ unu "yourself, myself, oneself." Similarly, 汝 na ~ nare "you" is found in Old Japanese (including Eastern Old Japanese) and Early Middle Japanese.

Hachijō has no dedicated third-person pronouns. When necessary, demonstratives—most often distal ones—are employed to indicate the equivalent of the third person. For example, when referring to people:

• ure~uĭ and uĭcu are informal, used for people within one's in-group, as well as for people whom the speaker does not care about showing respect to.
• The form uno hito (plural uno hitora) is polite, used for people outside of one's in-group. It comes from a compound of uno "that" and hito "person."
• The form uno kata (plural uno katara) is honorific, used for referring to superiors. It comes from a compound of uno "that" and kata "person (honorific)."

The interrogative personal pronouns are dare "who" for human referents and ani "what" for non-human referents (cognate to Japanese 誰 dare "who" and 何 nani "what"). The pronoun ani is often contracted to aN- when consonant-initial particles are adjoined to it.

Hachijō dare is related to the Old Japanese pronoun ta ~ tare "who," but it is unclear whether the change of initial t to d was borrowed from Japanese or was an independent parallel innovation.

Hachijō ani derives directly from Eastern Old Japanese *ani "what," which is attested indirectly in Eastern Old Japanese compounds like aze "why" and ado₂ "whatever" (contrast the Western Old Japanese forms naze and nado₂, whence Modern Japanese なぜ naze "why" and など nado "et cetera").[4] There are also a handful of other Hachijō interrogatives historically derived from compounds with ani, such as ada "how," aNde "why," and aNsei "why."

To form indeterminate pronouns from interrogatives, the suffix -ka is added. In contrast to Japanese, this -ka is added after any case suffix, not before, e.g., Hachijō anjoka (ani=o=ka) vs. Japanese 何かを nani-ka o, both "something (accusative case)."

A series of demonstratives similar to modern Japanese's ko-so-a-do series (proximal-mesial-distal-interrogative) also exists in Hachijō:[5]

Enumerating particles (並べ助詞, narabe-joshi, enum) are few in number, and they are used as conjunctions to join nominals into lists. The main particles of this type are to, ni, toka, da, and ja.

Both to and ni are used for making exhaustive lists, and are used more or less the same as in Japanese. The more usual way to form an exhaustive list is by using to, which is generally placed after every element of a list except the last (where it is optional):

The enumerating particle ni, on the other hand, is used in two main ways; the first use of ni emphasizes that the speaker is recalling the elements of the list, in which emphasized elements of the list are marked by ni and other elements left unmarked:

The second use of ni is found in binomial expressions such as mesini okazu 飯におかず "rice and a side dish".[16] Unlike the case particle N~ni, the enumerating particle ni is not reduced to N after light syllables.

The particles toka, da, and ja, on the other hand, are used for making inexhaustive lists:

The majority of case particles (格助詞, kaku-joshi) in Hachijō indicate standalone cases (連用格, ren'yō-kaku). The most common standalone case particles are:

The smaller class of adjoining case (連体格, rentai-kaku) particles is largely based around the genitive case (marked by ga or no) and compounds thereof:

The first type of prominence particles (取り立て助詞, toritate-joshi) are known as topic-focus particles (係り助詞, kakari-joshi), which introduce either a topic or focus component of a sentence. The particles wa, mo, sika, made, and see do not affect the conjugation of a sentence's verb, while the focus particles ka & koo and the interrogative particle ka do affect it.

Finally, the following three particles affect the inflection of the subsequent verb:

Adverbial particles (副助詞, fuku-joshi) express adverbs of degree, extent, etc.

Some particles, particularly o~jo, i~jii, and N~ni, regularly undergo fusion with their host word:[48]

In summary, words ending in light syllables undergo fusion with underlying *o, *i, and *N; whereas words ending in non-light syllables use the static longer forms jo, jii (Aogashima dialect rii), and ni.

In some older texts, the topic-marking particle wa (corresponding to Japanese は wa) can also be seen contracting with host nominals it follows (for example, ...ci + wa → ...cja), but most such contractions with wa have fallen out of use in the present day.[26] Surviving exceptions generally involve the pronominal ending -re (see below) contracting with wa to make -ra or -rja, or the combination of wa with other particles like -ni-wa → -nja.

All Hachijō verbals (verbs and verbal adjectives) make use of a variety of suffixes to indicate the verb's grammatical and semantic function. Suffixes attach to a phonological base form called the stem, occasionally triggering minor allophony; this combination of a stem and various suffixes creates a verb chain, which is one polymorphemic word. Verbal suffixes can be broadly classified into derivations, endings, auxiliaries, extensions, and postfixes:

Verb derivations attach to the stem and create a longer verb stem to which further suffixes can attach. They can combine with each other, in the order (Stem →) Causative → Passive or Potential → Stative → Retrospective or Past Subjunctive.

Verbal endings are always mandatory, with each verb using one. Endings generally end verb chains, but there are certain suffixes (auxiliaries and extensions) that can restart the verb chain. Depending on the exact function of the ending, the resulting verb can be finite or non-finite.

Verbal auxiliaries are verbs or verblike forms that attach to the infinitive, forming serial verb constructions. Being verbals, they themselves take endings of their own, restarting the verb chain. Verbal extensions are similar to auxiliaries, but attaching to the final form (or a Japanese-style tense) instead.

Verbal postfixes are like auxiliaries and verbal extensions in that they attach verb endings to extend the verb chain, but are also like verbal endings in that they conclude a verb chain.

While most suffixes follow the above categories and combination rules, there are exceptions, such as nomiziisi "won't not drink," which contains two endings in a row: the negative infinitive -izu and the dubitative -isi.

Lastly, there are several particles that can attach to certain verb forms, usually the attributive, infinitive, or participle. These are considered to be clitics that attach themselves to verb chains, not part of the chain themselves:

• declarative particles -wa, -zja
• question particles -ka, -kaN, -ĭ, etc.
• conjunctional particles -Nte, -karanja, -ni, -de, -ga, -to, etc.
• case particles -i, -ni, -kara, -o, etc.

Due to sound changes and other historical developments, the conjugation patterns found in Eastern Old Japanese have separated into several more distinct patterns in Hachijō. The following list of conjugation classes is derived from Kaneda (2001):[51]

Class 1.1A Verbs — Strong Consonant-Stem, Participle Qte

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in a light syllable followed by k, t, r, or a strong w. It also includes the verb jowa "to say," whose stem is nominally *iw- but becomes j- when followed by a vowel. Class 1.1A verbs with stems in w all have only a single short syllable before the w; other w-stem verbs are of Class 1.1A'.
Examples: kakowa "write," katowa "win," torowa "take," kawowa "buy," macikowa "curse," jowowa "get drunk," butowa "hit," jowa "say."

Class 1.1A-uw Verbs — Strong uw-Stem, Participle Qte

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in u followed by a mostly-strong w. They differ from Class 1.1A w-stem verbs only in the attributive and final forms (and derived forms), where uw-o and uw-u contract to uu. Like w-stem Class 1.1A verbs, this class consists of verbs that have only a single syllable before the w. Kaneda classifies these verbs as a special subclass of 1.1A' verbs (subclass 1.1A'a), but they are separated here for clarity.
Examples: nuuwa "sew," kuuwa "eat," suuwa "suck," juuwa "tie up."

Class 1.1A' Verbs — Weak w-Stem, Participle Qte

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in a light syllable followed by a weak w. They can be subclassified into 1.1A'b (stem-final uw-), 1.1A'c (stem-final ow-), and 1.1A'd (stem-final aw-). For some speakers, particularly in Downhill dialects, verbs that once followed this conjugation have been partly or completely converted to Class 1.1B by treating the stative stem (with -ar-) as a new base stem.[52]
Examples: (b) huruuwa "shake," sukuuwa "scoop"; (c) omouwa "think," irouwa "bully"; (d) cukouwa "use," warouwa "laugh," juwouwa "celebrate," -nouwa "(conjectural suffix)."

Class 1.1B Verbs — Strong Consonant-Stem, Participle te

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in a heavy syllable followed by k, t, or r.
Examples: kourowa "freeze," keerowa "go home," koorowa "change," kookowa "dry," cjoorowa "touch."

Class 1.1C Verbs — Semi-Strong r-Stem, Participle Qte

Consonant-stem verbs created from the stative suffix -ar- or another combination with the existence verb ar-, like the copula dara (from de + arowa). Non-verbal adjectives such as heta "unskilled, crude" also can be said to follow this conjugation, as they use the copula dara in order to describe nouns, e.g., hetadoo sito "an unskilled person." Kaneda classifies these verbs as a special class of 1.1A verbs, but they are separated here for clarity.
Examples: dara "be (copula)," oora "be, exist," -(t)ara "(stative suffix)," -Nzjara "(Old-Type negative)."

Class 1.2A Verbs — Strong Consonant-Stem, Participle Nde

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in a light syllable followed by m, b, g, or n.
Examples: kamowa "eat," nomowa "drink," jemowa "smile," asubowa "play," marubowa "die," ojogowa "swim," kasjagowa "slant," cinowa "die."

Class 1.2B Verbs — Strong Consonant-Stem, Participle de

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in a heavy syllable followed by m, b, or g.
Examples: houmowa "contain," eemowa "walk," soogowa "clamor."

Class 1.3A Verbs — Weak s-Stem, Short-Euphonic

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in a light syllable followed by a weak s; this s becomes a coalescing i in certain inflections. For some speakers, particularly in Uphill dialects, verbs that once followed this conjugation are now conjugated as class 1.3B partly or completely instead.
Examples: dasowa "take out," watasowa "send across," modosowa "put back," nabusowa "hide."

Class 1.3A' Verbs — Weak s-Stem, Long-Euphonic

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in a heavy syllable followed by a weak s; this s becomes (non-coalescing) ii in certain inflections. For some speakers, particularly in Uphill dialects, verbs that once followed this conjugation are now conjugated as class 1.3B partly or completely instead.
Examples: tousowa "put through," keesowa "give back," mousowa "say," moosowa "spin."

Class 1.3B Verbs — Strong s-Stem (Non-Euphonic)

Consonant-stem verbs whose stem ends in a light syllable followed by a strong s. It is unclear whether these verbs derive from regularization of Class 1.3A and 1.3A' verbs by eliminating their euphony, or if they never had euphony to begin with.
Examples: hesowa "push," kesowa "erase," kasowa "lend," josowa "quit."

Class 2 Verbs — Vowel-Stem

Vowel-stem verbs. They can be subclassified into Class 2a (ending in i-), Class 2b (ending in e-), Class 2c (ending in ee-), and Class 2d (ending in ei-).
Examples: kirowa "wear," jerowa "insert," keerowa "mix," jamerowa "suffer," meirowa "burn," oseirowa "teach," irowa "sit."

Class 3 Verbs — Irregular

Irregular verbs, which share a mix of features from Classes 1 and 2, as well as other irregularities.
Examples: sjowa "do," (de)kurowa "come."

Verbal Adjectives (VA)

One of the two types of adjectives in Hachijō. Verbal adjectives follow an idiosyncratic conjugation pattern that is supplemented with forms in -kar- (conjugated as Class 1.1C).
Examples: boukja "big," sjokja "known," hajakja "fast," toukja "far," takakja "high," nagakja "long."

New-Type Negative[53]

A hybrid between the Class 1.1C and verbal adjective classes that is used to conjugate the New-Type Negative auxiliary verb. It has a highly variable stem form of -Nnak- ~ -Nnar- ~ -Nnakar-; how it inflects will be noted in the following subsections. It is used in the Downhill Dialects instead of the Old-Type Negative, which instead consists of the regular Class 1.1C auxiliary -Nzjara.
Sole example: -Nnaka "(New-Type negative)."

A table summarizing some of the basic forms of each conjugation class is shown below:

The attributive form (連体形, rentaikei, attr) is made by adding the suffix -o to the stems of Class 1 verbs, -ro to those of Class 2, and -ke to verbal adjectives'. For irregular verbs, sjowa becomes sjo, and kurowa becomes kuro. This form descends from the Eastern Old Japanese attributive form -o₁ ~ *-uro₁.

On its own, the attributive serves a similar function to an English relative clause, for defining or classifying nominals:

Unlike in Modern Japanese, clauses in Hachijō also can be nominalized directly using the attributive form of a verb (glossed as attr(nmlz)). When nominalized in this way, the clause becomes a noun meaning "the act of ~ing", "the fact of ~ happening", "one who ~s", "that which is ~ed," etc., depending on context. Compare these near-identical constructions in Hachijō and Japanese, where Japanese requires the nominalization particle の no, but Hachijō does not:

This function of the attributive was also a feature of Japanese up until the early modern period, during which の no became used as a nominalization particle.[61][62]

See also the section on mermaid constructions, which make ample use of the attributive form.

The default form of the declarative (断定, dantei, decl) in Hachijō is formed by adding the declarative particle -wa to the attributive form (連体形, rentaikei) of verbs. For a slightly assertive or emphatic statement, the particle -zja can replace -wa. The particles wa and zja come from Old Japanese は pa and にては nite pa → dewa, respectively. The wa-declarative form serves as the dictionary form of verbals.

Originally, these particles followed the Old Japanese attributive in its nominalized form, creating a topicalized nominal;[63] in Hachijō, they have become markers of independent clauses, almost completely supplanting the original final form in this particular use:[64]

With verbal adjectives, the attributive -ke merges with -wa to become -kja:

Verbs of Class 1.1C also merge their attributive with -wa, contracting -owa irregularly to -a. For instance, the copula dara has the attributive form *dar-o → doo, but this is blocked by the addition of -wa, as -owa contracts to -a instead, viz., *dar-o-wa → dara.

A similar variation can be seen in the New Negative, which has the attributive form *-Nnako → -Nnoo but a declarative form *-Nnakowa → -Nnaka.

The declarative particle zja has no special contracted forms, always attaching directly to the attributive, e.g., nomozja "drinks," doozja "is." It has also been noted to take the form -zjaN in the Sueyoshi dialect.

Because of its nominalization function, the attributive form can be followed by any particle that can follow a noun, such as case particles. However, in addition, there are several other particles can also attach particularly to the attributive forms of verbals:

The clitic -Nte is a shortened form of -joNte, itself an extreme contraction and metathesis of -ni joQte, related to Japanese ～によって ni yotte "due to, by means of."[69] This clitic has significant variance between dialects when it occurs after long vowels, shown here on ikowa "to go" as an example:[72]

Some speakers of the Nakanogō and Kashitate dialects were also noted to have used the older form -joNte [jonte] after both long and short vowels as late as 1950.[72]

The infinitive (連用形, ren'yōkei, lit. "connective-use form," inf) is made by adding the suffix -i to the stems of Class 1 verbs, nothing to those of Class 2, and -ku to verbal adjectives'. For irregular verbs, sjowa becomes si, and kurowa becomes ki. This form descends from the Old Japanese infinitive -i₁. Negative verbs also have a suppletive infinitive form where the whole negative auxiliary -Nnaka or -Nzjara is replaced by -zu, from Old Japanese -zu ← -ni su (possibly reborrowed through Japanese).

This is a non-finite form used similarly to Japanese's infinitive: to link several verbs in a clause, for serial verb constructions, attaching auxiliary verbs, as a method of nominalizing verbs, etc.

Certain independent predicates can make use of the infinitive form instead of an ordinary finite predicate.

Simple infinitive predicates can be used to refer to actions in the immediate past, or to indicate that the speaker is speaking to themself, or both:

In a reduplicated form with -mo "also, even," specifically of the form nomimo nomi (for nomowa "to drink"), infinitive predicates are used to assert of the truth of the speaker's statement. This kind of statement is used without regard to time:

Another use of an infinitive predicate can be found in certain types of questions, as discussed in a section below.

A number of auxiliary verbs can be used with the infinitive, all of which are derived from grammaticalized verbs:

The negative verbal auxiliaries -Nnaka and -Nzjara, discussed in a later subsection, are also attached to the infinitive.

Similarly, there are a number of derived adjectives or adjective-like expressions built on the infinitive form:

And several conjunctional forms as well:

• reduplicated (e.g., nominomi) — Indicates that an action is iterative. Used by itself, it serves as an adverbial phrase indicating that the iterative action was performed simultaneously with another, whereas when used with sjowa "to do" (e.g., nominomi sjowa), it simply indicates repeated action. Reduplicated verbs do not undergo vowel coalescence, e.g., okoriokori "happening again and again," not **okorjokori.
• -nagara ~ -nagaa — Indicates that an action is performed simultaneously with another, e.g. nominagara "while drinking." This formation is synonymous with the simultaneous gerund in -outei. Cognate with Japanese ～ながら -nagara.[87]
• -gacu ~ -gacura — Indicates that an action is performed simultaneously with another, often coincidentally or through the exact same action, e.g. nomigacu "while one happens to be drinking." This form is limited to verbs that involve agency on the subject's part, and is also not usually used with motion verbs without an implicit endpoint (e.g., eemowa "walk," hasirowa "run"), intransitive bodily activities or functions (e.g. tatowa "stand"), or transitive verbs where an action is performed only once to one object (e.g., sasagowa "put on one's head"). Related to Japanese ～がてら -gatera.[88]
• -i (allative) or -ni (dative) — Indicates the purpose for which another action was performed, e.g. nomii or nomini "in order to drink." Using the allative -i is the more common than the dative -ni for this purpose, but both can be found.[89]

The negative infinitive (neg.inf) can be made in two different ways. The first way is by simply appending -zu to the regular infinitive form, e.g., nomizu "not drinking" (but is treated here as its own suffix). The second way is by adding -azu to the stems of Class 1 verbs, and -zu to those of Class 2. In this latter way, for irregular verbs, sjowa becomes sazu, sjazu, or sezu;[90] and kurowa becomes kozu.

The negative infinitive is used in many of the same situations that the regular infinitive is used word-finally (that is, without any suffixes). However, there are some specialized constructions used with -zu:

• -zuN ~ -zuni (-zu-ni, neg.inf-dat), which acts as an adverbial phrase meaning "without ~ing," e.g., nomazuN "without drinking." It can also be used with a similar meaning to a negative participle.
• -zunja (-zu-nja, neg.inf-dat.top), which acts as an adjectival noun and expresses necessity, e.g., nomazunjadara "must drink, have to drink." This form likely originally meant "if one does not ~," to be followed by a phrase such as damedara "it would not be good," but only the copula dara has remained.[91] Compare Japanese ～なきゃ -nakya, ～なくちゃ -nakucha, and ～ないと -nai to, which literally mean "if one does not," but can express a necessitative meaning even without a following clause.

In addition, there are a handful of derived forms from -zu:

• Negative Participle -zuto (neg.ptcp), used for conjunctive constructions with the particle -mo "even," e.g., nomazutomo "even not drinking, even if he doesn't drink."[92] In general, this competes as the negative participle with -Nsjade and the dative-marked -zuN ~ -zuni.
• Negative Dubitative -ziisi (-zu-isi, neg.inf-dub), used as a kind of double negative to show what is not doubted, etc. (e.g., nomiziisi "won't not drink").[93] This competes with the regularly-formed -Nnakaroosi and Nzjaroosi, formed from the negative auxiliaries -Nnaka and -Nzjara.
• Non-Intentional -ziimadouwa (-zu-imadow-, neg.inf-try), a derived Class 1.1A'c verb that expresses a lack of trying to do something, or seeming not to do something, e.g., nomaziimadouwa "doesn't try to drink." This appears to be a compound involving the verb 惑う madouwa "to get lost, to be perplexed."[94]

The participle (中止形, chūshikei, lit. "interrupting form," ptcp) is made by adding the suffix -te or -de to the stems of Class 1 (with some allomorphy), -te to those of Class 2, and -kute to verbal adjectives'. For irregular verbs, sjowa becomes site, and kurowa becomes kite. This grammatical form and its cognates across the Japonic languages are known by many names, including "participle," "gerund," "continuative," "subordinating," and simply "te-form"; the term "participle" will be used here. This form descends from the Old Japanese subordinating suffix -te, which was historically added to the infinitive but has gained a great degree of allomorphy due to historical sound changes, so it is treated as its own suffix here.

The participle is a non-finite form that serves a coordinating or subordinating role in sentences, indicating the realization (at the very least, the beginning) of the marked action. Therefore, the clause following a participle must necessarily refer to either the same time or a later time:

Due to the temporal ordering implied by the participle, it can be used to imply a causal relationship:

Lastly, the participle can also be used to mark mirativity or emphasis in verbs of sensation or emotion:[98]

The participle has a few specialized uses when combined with certain particles:

Several verbs are also used in common constructions with the participle:

The anterior gerund (先行形, senkōkei, ant) can be made by replacing the -te or -de of the participle with -totei ~ -toQtei or -dotei ~ -doQtei, respectively. The form -toQtei ~ doQtei is older, and is now generally used after verbs without euphonic participles (mostly Class 2 and 3 verbs, as well as verbal adjectives), whereas -totei ~ -dotei is used with other verbs (like Class 1 verbs). The copula dara has the anterior gerund doQtei.

There are two likely candidates for this form's etymology:[102]

• participle -te + participle oQte of or- "to be" + accusative -o (in mirative usage)
• participle -te + participle oQte of ok- "to put" + accusative -o (in mirative usage)

This form denotes an action that occurs strictly before another action that occurs in the following clause. It is similar but not exactly equivalent to the construction -tekara ~ -dekara, using the participle -te ~ -de and the ablative -kara.

The requisitional form (依頼, irai, req) form can be made by replacing the -te or -de of the participle with -tou or -dou, respectively. This suffix is often thought to etymologically derive from the participle -te followed by the accusative -o, but as that would have been expected to yield **-tei rather than -tou, this form's ultimate origin is unclear; it likely derives from a more complex contraction.[103]

The requisitional is used for asking favors and requests of others. Like the imperative, it can be softened by adding mii afterward:

The imperative form (命令形, meireikei, imp) is made by adding the suffix -e to the stems of Class 1 verbs, and -ro to those of Class 2. For irregular verbs, sjowa becomes se or sje, and kurowa becomes ko. These forms descend from the Eastern Old Japanese imperative forms -e₍₁₎ ~ ro₂.

The imperative is used for commands, and can be softened by adding mii afterward:

The imperative can also be used to warn others about imminent events that would have a negative effect on them:

For negative imperatives, the prohibitive postfix -na (attaching to the final form) is used instead.

The final form (旧終止形, kyū-shūshikei, lit. "old termination form," fin) is made by adding the suffix -u to the stems of Class 1 verbs, nothing or -ru to those of Class 2, and -ke or underlying *-karu to verbal adjectives'. For irregular verbs, sjowa becomes su, and kurowa becomes ku or kuru. However, for Class 1.1C verbs, the underlying *-aru typically contracts to aQ, aN, or oo depending on the following morpheme; the same can be said for verbal adjectives, whose underlying 1.1C *-karu contracts to -kaQ, -kaN, or -koo. This form descends from the Old Japanese final form -u, as well as in some constructions borrowed from Japanese using its attributive form -u ~ -ru.

Despite its name, this suffix's use in concluding declarative sentences has mostly been supplanted in Hachijō by the declarative -owa form. It mainly only exists as a predicative form in quotative and reportative speech:

However, the final form still remains fossilized in the formation of several verbal extensions:

The prohibitive form (禁止形, kinshikei, proh) is made by adding the suffix -na to the final form (with or without the extra -ru on Class 2 verbs and kurowa). This form is either inherited from the Old Japanese prohibitive -(u)na or reborrowed from Japanese. This form serves as the negative counterpart to the imperative, commanding the addressee not to do something:

The conjectural (推量, suiryō, cnjec) extension is made by adding -naw- (Class 1.1A') to the final forms of verbals. On Class 2 verbs and kurowa, the extra ru is optional; for verbal adjectives, the combined result is -kaNnaw-. This extension descends from the Old Japanese tentative-conjectural extension -nam- (contrast Western Old Japanese -uram-), with /m/ elided to /w/.

This extension denotes various conjectural meanings such as guessing, expectation, prediction, hypotheticality, and other such irrealis situations.

The focalizing (強調, kyōchō, lit. "emphatic," foclz) extension is made by adding -naw- (Class 1.1A') to the final forms of verbals, identical in all forms to the conjectural.

This extension was borrowed from a Middle Japanese mermaid construction -(r)u nari, consisting of the Middle Japanese nominalized attributive form in -(r)u followed by the copula なり nari, an exact parallel to Hachijō's native -(r)odara mermaid construction. Because the Middle Japanese attributive is -(r)u rather than -(r)o, this construction was borrowed to use the Hachijō final form in -(r)u instead. In addition, the borrowed copula nar- has been reduced to -naw-, merging in form with the conjectural -naw-.

The Japanese-style present form -nou (← -naw-u) is used sentence-finally for emphasis (example 1) and sentence-medially express cause and effect (example 2):

The exclamatory form -nee (← -naw-e) is used in kakari-musubi with the focus particle koo (see the section on focalized exclamatory kakari-musubi for details and examples).

The provisional form -neeja (← -naw-eba) is used to express two types of conditionals or cause-and-effect statements. When not following the stative extension, it is an imperfect conditional, indicating that the condition was met repeatedly or many times at once: