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While browsing through some chapters of the Bleach manga, I stumbled over a sentence that puzzles me. A chapter is called:

立ちて死すべし

I know what 立ち means and I know that the べし is a suffix that kind of means that the verb is an obligation or something that should be done(?). But I can't make sense of the て kana and why it is 死す and not 死ぬ.

Link to where it appeared is here, chapter 511.

Would a correct translation be "those who stand shall/must die"?

Daniel
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    立ち→ http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E7%AB%8B%E3%81%A4 、 て→ http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A6 → 接続助詞、　死す→ http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E6%AD%BB%E3%81%99 、　べし→ http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%B9%E3%81%97 – chocolate Dec 23 '15 at 16:25

1 Answers1

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立ちて死すべし

The 立ち is the continuative form (連用形) of the archaic verb 立つ.
The て is the conjunctive particle (接続助詞), i.e. 立ちて is the te-form of 立つ in Classical Japanese.
死す is a literary, bookish way of saying 死ぬ. As in @broccoliforest's comment below 死す is the archaic form of 死する.

So in modern Japanese I think it would be like 「立って死ぬべき(だ)」 or 「立って死ぬべし」, "should/must die while standing".

Earthliŋ
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chocolate
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    細かいことですが、現代語でも「死する」という動詞が残っています。「死ぬ」に相当する単語は古文でも「死ぬ」です（ナ変） – broccoli forest Dec 23 '15 at 17:14
  • @broccoliforest あらま、どうしましょ・・・ – chocolate Dec 23 '15 at 17:17
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    「死する」が「死ぬ」の堅い言い方、ということでいいんじゃないでしょうか。 – broccoli forest Dec 23 '15 at 17:22
  • So the sentence uses archaic Japanese grammar? Is べき a more modern form than べし? – Daniel Dec 23 '15 at 17:42
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    @Daniel Yes, archaism means loftiness. As for べき, yes and no, for there's no word fully translates べし anymore, so we sometimes just use it as is. – broccoli forest Dec 23 '15 at 18:09
  • @broccoliforest, not disagreeing, but how do you think べし is different from べきだ (except for the loftiness)? – dainichi Dec 24 '15 at 03:48
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    @dainichi 私には、「べし」より「べきだ」のほうが口語的で現代的な感じがして、「べし」のほうが古い感じや文語的と言うか、なんか壁に貼ってある社訓みたいなのにありそうな気がします。‌（​箇条書きとかで。）日常会話で「～べし！」とか言われたら、ふざけてるのかなって思うかも・・・ – chocolate Dec 24 '15 at 06:25
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    @dainichi Today's べき is, in a word, should, while Classical べし was, among many possible translations, shall. ～べし／べからず thou shalt/shalt not kind of wording is one of those we can't find substitutes in modern language, thus we still sometimes rely on. Maybe ～しろ／するな Do!/Don't do! are fitter for those situations than べき. – broccoli forest Dec 24 '15 at 06:58