buy · Japanese (買う) — Event-Structure Dictionary

Arguments

Buyer, Goods, Seller, Beneficiary, Price, place · Japanese cloth · working claim, revisable

Voice[Buyer] + complement of the root (Goods, を) + Seller in から where a line fills one + Beneficiary in bare に where a line fills one, or in ために in the proverb, or on a benefactive auxiliary + Price in で or in に where a line fills one + place in で where a line fills one

A purchase, on this reading, has a Buyer, the Goods, a Seller when a line fills one, a Beneficiary when a line fills one, a Price when a line fills one, and a place when a line fills one. They are not six equal sisters of 買う. Voice adds the Buyer. The case label IPAL prints is Ｎ１ガ. The filled subject of pattern 1.01 is 彼が. The filled subjects of 1.02 and of Saito’s shop line and seller line are は: 彼は, 僕は, 君は. は is the topic on that subject. It is not a second case. The root’s complement is the Goods, marked を. デジタル大辞泉 sense 1 prints 欲しい物を and 権利を. IPAL 1.01 prints 車を. The Seller Saito prints is から: 誰から買ったか, glossed “From whom—of whom.” から is unprinted on the purchase patterns of デジタル大辞泉, of 研究社新和英中辞典, and of IPAL 1.01 and 1.02. に as a Seller is unprinted in the articles opened. The Beneficiary IPAL 1.02 prints is bare に, 娘にプレゼントを買った, with no auxiliary. デジタル大辞泉 and Kenkyusha print no bare に of a beneficiary. ために is printed in the set phrase 児孫のために美田を買わず. The benefactive auxiliary is printed on Saito’s 買ってやろう and on Kenkyusha’s 買って上げようか. 買ってくれる and 買ってもらう are unprinted on these articles. The Price Kenkyusha prints is で: 千円で買う, いくらで, 5 千円で, 100万円では. The Price Saito prints is に: 百円に, いくらに, 五千円に. That に is a sum. It is not the person に. The place Saito prints is で: あの店で買う, and the clause has no goods. The same で also marks means (金で, 現金で, 掛けで, 月賦で) and, on IPAL 1.03, a cause (愛人問題で). 購入する is a する verb. デジタル大辞泉 prints 日用品を購入する. Seller, price, place, and beneficiary are unprinted on that entry. The drawing is working and revisable. It is not a settled analysis, and it is not a claim about telicity.

What is different from the English gloss. Cambridge prints buy with [+ two objects] in He bought his mother some flowers, and the same line offers He bought some flowers for his mother. The seller in the articles opened is from: I bought my camera from a friend of mine. Japanese spells the person of that double object, where IPAL prints one, as に: 娘に. English his mother has no particle. German jemandem etwas kaufen spells that person as a bare dative, meinem Sohn, with a case ending and no particle. The Japanese に of 娘に is the beneficiary. It is not the seller. The seller Saito prints is から, and the gloss of that line is “of whom” beside “from whom.” On abkaufen the bare dative is the seller. On 売る the other person is に and is the buyer. On 買う the person-に that is printed is not the seller. A string with no particle on the person, the shape of the English double object, is unprinted. ために is the proverb, not a free modern match of English for. The price name Kenkyusha prints is で. The English gloss of 千円で買う on that page says “two thousand yen.” The Japanese numeral in the headword of the row is 千.

Places · who wears which marking

No printed line stacks a Seller, a Beneficiary, the goods, and a sum. IPAL 1.02 has 娘に and プレゼントを, and no seller and no price. Saito’s seller line has この家を and 誰から, and no price. Kenkyusha’s 千円で買う has a price and no person and no goods noun. Saito’s shop line has あの店で and no goods.

Printed seller · から

✓ 君はこの家を誰から買ったか斎藤和英大辞典 · Weblio

From whom—of whom—did you buy your house? · 誰から is the seller · この家を is the goods · 君は is the topic

Printed beneficiary · bare に, no auxiliary

✓ 彼は娘にプレゼントを買った。 IPAL基本動詞 · pattern 1.02 · Ｎ１ガＮ２ニＮ３ヲ · the spaces are the table’s

he bought his daughter a present · 娘に is the beneficiary · プレゼントを is the goods · no てやる in the line

Places of Japanese buy: introducer, marking, status, English marking
Place	Introduced by (working)	Japanese marking	Status	English marking
Buyer	Spec,Voice	が in the case label · 彼が · topic は on 彼は, 僕は, 君は, 社長は	structural subject · は is the topic, not a second case · デジタル大辞泉’s sense-1 examples fill no buyer	subject of buy
Goods	complement of the root	を · 欲しい物 · 権利 · 車 · プレゼント · 馬 · 家 · 日用品 on 購入する	structural object · the shop line あの店で買う fills no goods · その馬はいくらで買ったの has the goods as topic	object of buy · second object of Cambridge’s [+ two objects]
Seller	から · revisable · unprinted in three purchase write-ups	誰から	Saito prints it, glossed from whom and of whom · デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL 1.01–1.02 print no から of a seller · に as the seller is unprinted · IPAL 1.03 妻から is the incur sense	from + person (from a friend of mine)
Beneficiary	bare に where IPAL fills one · ために in the proverb · に on てやる / て上げる	娘に · 児孫のために · お前には · 君にも	IPAL 1.02 has no auxiliary · デジタル大辞泉 and Kenkyusha print no bare に beneficiary · 買ってくれる and 買ってもらう are unprinted · on もらう the に would be the giver	first object of [+ two objects] (his mother) · or for + person
Price	で in Kenkyusha · に of a sum in Saito · working MeasureP inside the phrase that fills one	千円で · 5 千円で · いくらで · 100万円では · 百円に · 五千円に · 五百金に	oblique · the Kenkyusha gloss of 千円で says two thousand yen · 5 千円 matches 5,000 · 高く and 安く are adverbs · 金で is means	Cambridge’s commercial lines opened here do not print a numeral for · the for they print is the beneficiary
Shop / place	で · revisable	あの店で	Saito · the clause has no goods · the same particle is the price in Kenkyusha and the means in 金で · IPAL’s で on 1.03 is a cause	a shop phrase is unprinted in the Cambridge lines opened

Marking map. One particle can belong to several heads. Read the line, then the marker.

が of the Buyer, and は on the topic. IPAL 1.01: Ｎ１ガＮ２ヲ, 彼が車を買った。彼が is the subject. Pattern 1.02 keeps the label Ｎ１ガ and fills 彼は. Pattern 1.04 fills 社長は. Saito fills 僕はいつもあの店で買う and 君はこの家を誰から買ったか. は marks the topic. The buyer is that subject where a line prints one. It is not the から-phrase and not the に-phrase. デジタル大辞泉 sense 1 prints the goods and fills no buyer. The headword is か・う〔かふ〕【買う】, ［動ワ五（ハ四）］.
を of the goods. デジタル大辞泉 sense 1: 代金を払って自分の所有とする。 The examples are written with the dictionary’s dash. Read as full words, they are 欲しい物を買う and 権利を買う. The arrow points at 売る. IPAL 1.01 has 車を. IPAL 1.02 has プレゼントを. Saito has 馬を買った, この馬を百円に買った, この家を誰から買ったか, and その家を五千円に買おうと言った. Kenkyusha has 大きい方を買います and, with the goods as topic, その馬はいくらで買ったの. 購入する prints 日用品を. The shop line prints no を.
The Seller is から, and three purchase write-ups do not print it. に as the seller is unprinted. Saito: 君はこの家を誰から買ったか. The English is “From whom—of whom—did you buy your house?” The dashes are the dictionary’s. No line in the articles opened prints 誰に as the seller of 買う. デジタル大辞泉 sense 1 prints no から and no に. Kenkyusha’s purchase section prints no から. IPAL 1.01 and 1.02 print no から. IPAL 1.03 is Ｎ１ガ (Ｎ２デ) (Ｎ３ニ／カラ) Ｎ４ヲ, 彼は愛人問題で妻から恨みを買った。 The goods of that line are 恨み. 妻から and the optional に belong to the incur sense, the sense デジタル大辞泉 glosses 招く. 愛人問題で is the cause. It is not a price and not a shop. English from matches Saito’s seller, not the beneficiary に and not the government of the goods.
The Beneficiary IPAL prints is bare に. The auxiliary lines put に on てやる and て上げる. ために is the proverb. IPAL 1.02: 彼は娘にプレゼントを買った。娘に has no て-auxiliary. デジタル大辞泉 prints no such に. Kenkyusha prints no bare に of a beneficiary. Saito: お前には自転車を買ってやろう, glossed “I will buy you a bicycle.” The に is on 買ってやる. Kenkyusha: 君にも 1 つ買って上げようか, glossed “Shall I get one for you too?” The kanji is 上げ. The に is on 買って上げる. 下接句 prints 児孫のために美田を買わず. A free modern ために beside ordinary goods is unprinted. 買ってくれる and 買ってもらう are unprinted on 買う in the articles opened. On the 貸す page, KAMUS prints 友だちに貸してもらった, and that に is the person who lends. A に on 買ってもらう would be the giver, the person who buys for the subject. It is not the beneficiary に of IPAL 1.02. A particle-less person beside the goods, the shape of English his mother, is unprinted.
Price is で in Kenkyusha and に of a sum in Saito. The two are not one particle. Kenkyusha: 千円で買う, with the gloss “buy [get] something for two thousand yen” and “pay [give] two thousand yen for something.” The row’s Japanese is 千. The gloss’s English is two thousand. Both are recorded. 5 千円で買おうと言う is glossed “offer somebody 5,000 yen for something.” The numeral matches 5,000. The verb of that line is an offer. その馬はいくらで買ったの asks the price. 100万円では大した車は買えない matches a million yen. Saito: この馬を百円に買った, glossed “for 100 yen” and “I gave 100 yen for my horse.” 君の家はいくらに買ったか. その家を五千円に買おうと言った, glossed “I offered him 5,000 yen for the house.” 下接句 prints 死馬の骨を五百金に買う. That に is a sum in a set phrase. It is not 娘に. 高く買う and 安く買う are adverbial. They are not a case frame.
で of the shop, で of means, and で of a cause are three further uses. Saito: 僕はいつもあの店で買う, glossed “I always buy at that shop.” No goods noun is in the clause. Saito also prints 金で買う, 僕は何でも現金で買う, 掛けで買う, and 月賦で買う. Those are means or terms. Kenkyusha prints 金で買える and 幸福は金では買えない. IPAL 1.03’s 愛人問題で is the cause of 恨みを買った. One particle, four seats: price, shop, means, cause. The line decides the seat.
What Spanish assigns to le, and what German assigns to the dative of abkaufen, the printed に of 買う does not carry as a seller. On comprar the selected indirect object is the seller, and the beneficiary is para. On 買う the person-に IPAL prints is 娘に, the beneficiary, and the seller Saito prints is から. On comprare one clitic is glossed both ways. No Japanese line in the articles opened glosses one に as the seller and as the beneficiary. On acheter one full à+NP covers both readings. Japanese prints the two persons, where they are printed, with two particles, and three write-ups print neither the seller nor a bare beneficiary. On comprar one a-phrase is left as the seller or as para. Saito’s から is glossed from and of, and it is not given a beneficiary reading. On kaufen the bare dative is the beneficiary, which is the reading of 娘に, and on abkaufen that dative is the seller, which the に of 買う is not given. On купить the beneficiary is a bare dative and the seller, where a quotation prints one, is у plus genitive. On 売る the に is the buyer. That に is the other lemma.

EN ⇄ JA valency strip

Each row lines up one English slot with a Japanese slot. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (from / for ↔ the Japanese marker the line prints). Printed dictionary lines come first. Every other sentence is constructed, modelled on a printed line. They show the working alignment, not frequency, and not a bilingual corpus.

English–Japanese valency alignment for buy / 買う, one row per argument
Slot	EN form	JA form	Align	EN example	JA example
Buyer	SUBJ of buy	が · topic は	=	I bought my camera from a friend of mine Cambridge	彼が IPAL 1.01 · 彼は IPAL 1.02
Goods	OBJ of buy	を	=	buy a small car Cambridge	車を IPAL 1.01 · 欲しい物をデジタル大辞泉
Seller	from + person	から	shift · from ↔ から · デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL 1.01–1.02 do not print it	I bought my camera from a friend of mine Cambridge	誰から斎藤 · of whom beside from whom
Seller as に	from + person	unprinted	not the printed seller marking	the same Cambridge from	— に as seller unprinted
Beneficiary	for + person, or the first object of [+ two objects]	bare に	= the person · the Japanese form has a particle · English his mother has none	He bought some flowers for his mother Cambridge · the slash-mate of the double object	娘に IPAL 1.02
Beneficiary as ために	for + person	ために in one set phrase	the proverb is printed · a free modern phrase is unprinted	the same Cambridge for	児孫のために美田を買わずデジタル大辞泉 · 下接句
Benefactive auxiliary	the favor is in the verb or in for	てやる · て上げる · に on that auxiliary	outer auxiliary · くれる and もらう unprinted on 買う	I will buy you a bicycle Saito’s gloss	お前には自転車を買ってやろう斎藤 · 君にも 1 つ買って上げようか研究社
Price as で	unprinted as a numeral for in the Cambridge lines opened	で	the price particle is printed · the gloss of 千円 says two thousand	—	千円で買う研究社 · いくらで研究社
Price as に	unprinted as a numeral for	に of a sum	not the person に · not the seller	—	百円に買った斎藤 · 五千円に買おうと言った斎藤
Shop	unprinted in the lines opened	で	the place is printed · the clause has no goods · the same で is also price, means, and cause	—	あの店で買う斎藤
Thing as subject	the goods as subject	買われぬ · ［可能］かえる	the thing is the subject of 買われぬ · no agent in the line · かえる is the potential cell	The company was set up to buy and sell shares Cambridge · active · a goods-passive of buy is unprinted in the lines opened	金で幸福は買われぬ斎藤 · ［可能］かえるデジタル大辞泉 · no clause

The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame, with English on top and Japanese under it. The seller card stays inside Saito’s 誰から. The person card stays inside IPAL’s 娘に. The price card stays inside Kenkyusha’s 千円で. The place card stays inside Saito’s あの店で.

EN · JA · printed から

誰から

I bought my camera from a friend of mine.

君はこの家を誰から買ったか

JA · 斎藤和英大辞典 · from whom—of whom · EN · Cambridge · from

RolesHide roles BuyerSellerGoods

Buyer 君は Seller from whom · 誰から Goods this house · この家を

Move English from is から · デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL 1.01–1.02 do not print から · に is not this seller

EN · JA · printed bare に

娘に

He bought some flowers for his mother.

彼は娘にプレゼントを買った。

JA · IPAL 1.02 · EN · Cambridge · for of a person

RolesHide roles BuyerBeneficiaryGoods

Buyer 彼は Beneficiary for the daughter · 娘に Goods a present · プレゼントを

= the person matches · the Japanese form is に · English his mother has no particle · German jemandem has a case ending · no auxiliary in the IPAL line

EN · JA · printed で of a price

千円で

buy [get] something for two thousand yen

千円で買う

JA · 研究社新和英中辞典 · the gloss is the dictionary’s · the row’s numeral is 千

RolesHide roles GoodsPrice

Goods something · unfilled in the Japanese row Price 千円で · gloss two thousand yen

= で is the price in this row · not a person · Saito’s price is に · あの店で is the shop

EN · JA · printed で of a shop

あの店で

I always buy at that shop.

僕はいつもあの店で買う

JA · 斎藤 · the gloss is the dictionary’s · no goods in the clause

RolesHide roles BuyerPlace

Buyer 僕は Place at that shop · あの店で

Move で is the shop · no を in the line · price で and means で are other seats of the same particle

Examples

Argument difference. English can package the beneficiary and the goods as two bare objects, He bought his mother some flowers, or put that person in for, and it puts the seller in from. German kaufen puts the beneficiary in a bare dative, jemandem etwas kaufen. Japanese prints the goods in を. The beneficiary IPAL prints is に, 娘にプレゼントを買った, and that に is not the seller. The seller Saito prints is から, 誰から買ったか. デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL’s purchase patterns print no から. A particle-less person beside the goods is unprinted. On abkaufen the dative is the seller. On 売る the に is the buyer, and the seller is the subject. That buyer is not the から-phrase of 買う, and the seller of 売る is not the に of 娘に.

Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed

［動ワ五（ハ四）］ · １代金を払って自分の所有とする。「欲しい物を―・う」「権利を―・う」⇔売る。 · ［可能］かえるデジタル大辞泉 · 小学館 · Kotobank · no に · no から · no price · no shop · the dash is the dictionary’s

［下接句］児孫のために美田を買わず・死馬しばの骨を五百金に買うデジタル大辞泉 · Kotobank prints the reading しば inline · ために in the proverb · に of a sum in the set phrase

［類語］（1）購入・購買・購う… デジタル大辞泉 · the related names stay on this page

〘他動詞ワ行五（ハ四）〙 ① 代価を払って品物等を受け取る。あがなう。⇔売る。精選版日本国語大辞典 · Kotobank · the filled examples are classical · no modern から

Ｎ１ガＮ２ヲ · 彼が車を買った。 IPAL基本動詞 · mibook · pattern 1.01 · the spaces are the table’s · buyer が · goods を · no seller · no price

Ｎ１ガＮ２ニＮ３ヲ · 彼は娘にプレゼントを買った。 IPAL · pattern 1.02 · bare に · no auxiliary

Ｎ１ガ (Ｎ２デ) (Ｎ３ニ／カラ) Ｎ４ヲ · 彼は愛人問題で妻から恨みを買った。 IPAL · pattern 1.03 · incur sense · で is the cause · から is optional with に on this pattern · not the purchase seller

Ｎ１ガＮ２ヲ · 社長は彼の熱意を買った。 IPAL · pattern 1.04 · value sense · off the purchase frame

千円で買う · 5 千円で買おうと言う · 君にも 1 つ買って上げようか · その馬はいくらで買ったの · 100万円では大した車は買えない研究社新和英中辞典 · Weblio · the gloss of 千円で says two thousand yen · 5 千円 matches 5,000 · no から · no shop · no bare に beneficiary

馬を買った · お前には自転車を買ってやろう · この馬を百円に買った · 君の家はいくらに買ったか · 君はこの家を誰から買ったか · 僕はいつもあの店で買う · その家を五千円に買おうと言った斎藤和英大辞典 · Weblio · から seller · price に · place で with no goods · に of お前には is on てやる

金で買う · 現金で買う · 掛けで買う · 月賦で買う · 金で幸福は買われぬ · 金で買われぬものもある斎藤 · means で · 買われぬ has the thing as subject · no agent

［名］(スル) 買うこと。買い入れること。「日用品を購入する」「共同購入」デジタル大辞泉 · 購入 · goods を · seller, price, place, and beneficiary unprinted · 精選版 prints the noun and the Meiji citation 一年有半（1901）中江兆民, and no する clause

He bought his mother some flowers / He bought some flowers for his mother. · I bought my camera from a friend of mine. · buy a small car. Cambridge · buy · [+ two objects] is the entry’s label · the slash is the entry’s

明鏡国語辞典, 大辞林, and プログレッシブ和英中辞典 were not opened. The IPAL PDF of かう was not opened. No frame is taken from them. not opened

Strings below are constructed, modelled on the printed lines. They are not spontaneous-speech citations and not dictionary lines. 彼 continues the named-participant series already printed in the IPAL lines. A name does not spell a role.

✓ 彼が友人から車を買った。

RolesHide roles BuyerSellerGoods

Buyer 彼が Seller 友人から Goods 車を

constructed · 彼が and 車を are IPAL 1.01 · から is Saito’s 誰から · 友人 substitutes for 誰

✓ 彼は車を千円で買った。

RolesHide roles BuyerGoodsPrice

Buyer 彼は Goods 車を Price 千円で

constructed · goods from IPAL 1.01 · price particle from Kenkyusha’s 千円で買う · the dictionary gloss of that row says two thousand yen · no person is added

✓ 彼は友人に車を買ってもらった。

RolesHide roles BeneficiaryGiverGoods

Subject 彼は Giver 友人に Goods 車を

constructed · 買ってもらう is unprinted on the 買う articles · the に is the giver, on the pattern of KAMUS 友だちに貸してもらった · not the beneficiary に of IPAL 1.02

* 彼は娘プレゼントを買った。

RolesHide roles PersonGoods

Person 娘 Goods プレゼントを

constructed · no particle on the person · the printed person beside the goods is 娘に · English his mother has no particle · German jemandem has a case ending · 娘プレゼントを is not a printed line

✓ 車を IPAL 1.01 · goods · を
✓ 誰から斎藤 · seller · から · glossed of whom beside from whom
✓ 娘に IPAL 1.02 · beneficiary · bare に · no auxiliary
✓ お前には · 君にも斎藤買ってやる · 研究社買って上げる · に on the auxiliary
✓ 児孫のためにデジタル大辞泉 · 下接句 · ために
✓ 千円で研究社 · price · gloss says two thousand yen
✓ 百円に · 五千円に斎藤 · price · に of a sum · not the person
✓ あの店で斎藤 · place · no goods in the clause

What the passive shows

A passive would be an operation on the same places. It would not add a participant. デジタル大辞泉 prints ［可能］かえる. That cell is the potential. It is not given a clause, and it is not given a telicity reading. Saito prints 金で幸福は買われぬ and 金で買われぬものもある. The thing is the subject. No buyer is in the clause. Kenkyusha prints この本は学生にも買えるか, with the book as subject of the potential. A finite passive of 買う that names the buyer, and a passive that keeps a seller or a beneficiary, are unprinted. Nothing further is constructed. 買わせる is unprinted in the articles opened. An -sase- form would be an outer wrap, a second event, someone having someone buy. It would not be a lexical argument of 買う.

The other senses stay off the purchase frame. デジタル大辞泉 sense 2 is 招く, with 人の恨みを買う and 反感を買う. Sense 3 is 売られた喧嘩を買う. Sense 4 is 努力を買う. Sense 5 is 女を買う. IPAL 1.03 is 恨みを買った. IPAL 1.04 is 熱意を買った. Saito’s 春を買う is off the purchase frame, and so is Kenkyusha’s 彼の誠実さは買ってやらなければならない, which is the value sense. Those lines stop at the citation. Cambridge’s She'll never buy that story is the English believe sense. It is not given a Japanese clause here.

Derivations · working sketches, revisable

Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The drawing gives the Buyer to Voice, the Goods to the root, a Seller to から where a line prints one, a Beneficiary to bare に where a line prints one, a Price to で or to に of a sum where a line prints one, and a place to で where a line prints one. Open one sketch at a time. Which theta role is the object is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.

Voice · the Buyer is the external argument

Printed · IPAL 1.01 · one external argument

[TP 彼が
  [VoiceP 彼 Voice                     ← Buyer = Spec,Voice
    … 買う … ]]

✓ 彼が車を買った。 IPAL 1.01

The external argument is the Buyer. English keeps that one subject on buy. は on 彼は is the topic of the same subject. A finite passive that names the buyer of 買う is unprinted. On 売る the external argument is the Seller, not this Buyer. The seller of 買う, where Saito prints one, is から.

Seller から · Beneficiary に · Price で or に · place で

One を · one source particle · one bare に · working, revisable

[VoiceP 君は Voice
  [VP √買-
     [Theme この家を ]
     [PP から [ 誰 ]]]]                 ← 斎藤
                                          ← 大辞泉, 研究社, IPAL 1.01–1.02: から unprinted
                                          ← に as seller unprinted

[VoiceP 彼は Voice
  [VP √買-
     [Theme プレゼントを ]
     [に 娘 ]]]                         ← IPAL 1.02
                                          ← no auxiliary
                                          ← 大辞泉 and 研究社: bare に unprinted

[VoiceP 買う Voice
  [VP √買-
     [Theme  something ]
     [PP で [ 千円 ]]]]                 ← 研究社
                                          ← gloss says two thousand yen
                                          ← 斎藤’s price is に: 百円に

[VoiceP 僕は Voice
  [VP √買-
     [PP で [ あの店 ]]]]               ← 斎藤 · no を in the clause
                                          ← 金で is means
                                          ← 愛人問題で is the incur cause

The Seller phrase and the Beneficiary phrase are not one particle. から is the seller in the line that prints it. The bare に is the beneficiary in the line that prints it. で of 千円 is the price. に of 百円 is a price, and it is not 娘に. で of あの店 is the place. ために is the proverb. てやる and て上げる are outer. -sase- would be a further outer wrap.

✓ 君はこの家を誰から買ったか斎藤 · seller

✓ 彼は娘にプレゼントを買った IPAL 1.02 · beneficiary

✓ 千円で買う研究社 · price · gloss two thousand yen

* 彼は娘プレゼントを買った。 constructed · no particle on the person · unprinted

English counterpart · from, for, and the double object · German datives · Russian у and the dative

Working · no English buy page is opened · German is kaufen · Russian is купить · Portuguese is comprar · Spanish is comprar · Italian is comprare · French is acheter

[VoiceP I Voice
  [VP √BUY
     [Theme my camera ]
     [PP from [ a friend of mine ]]]]     ← Cambridge
                                          · Japanese から
                                          · not に

[VoiceP he Voice
  [ApplP his mother Appl                  ← Beneficiary · bare object
    [VP √BUY
       [Theme some flowers ]]]]           ← Cambridge [+ two objects]
                                          · Japanese 娘に
                                          · a particle-less person is unprinted
                                          · German meinem Sohn

[VoiceP he Voice
  [VP √BUY
     [Theme some flowers ]
     [PP for [ his mother ]]]]            ← the same Cambridge line
                                          · Japanese に, or ために in the proverb
                                          · a numeral English for is unprinted

Cambridge’s from is the seller. Japanese spells that person as から, in the Saito line that prints it, and three purchase write-ups do not print the phrase. Cambridge’s for of a person, and the first object of [+ two objects], are the beneficiary. Japanese spells that person as に where IPAL prints it. German spells it as a bare dative. A particle-less Japanese person is unprinted. Spanish le is the seller, and Spanish para is the beneficiary. Italian gli is glossed both ways. French à covers both readings of a full noun. Portuguese a is left as the seller or as para. Russian у plus genitive is the seller in the quotations that print it, and the Russian beneficiary is a bare dative. German abkaufen spells the seller as a bare dative. Japanese に of 買う is not given that seller reading.

Layer-by-layer parallel: English buy, Japanese 買う, Russian купить, Spanish comprar, and German kaufen with the other buy pages
Layer	buy (EN) · no page	買う	купить	comprar	kaufen · acheter · comprare · comprar
Spec,Voice	Buyer	Buyer · が / topic は · on 売る this layer is the Seller	Buyer · on продать this layer is the Seller	Buyer · on vender this layer is the Seller	Buyer · on verkaufen, vendre, and vendere this layer is the Seller · no Portuguese sell page
Beneficiary	bare first object, or for + person	bare に · 娘に · ために in the proverb · てやる / て上げる outer · a particle-less person unprinted	bare dative · ребёнку · для unprinted	para+NP · not the same le as the Seller	German dative on kaufen · French à or pour · Italian dative clitic, glossed per or da · Portuguese para
Seller	from + person	から in Saito · unprinted in デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL 1.01–1.02 · に as seller unprinted	у+genitive in the Wiktionary quotations · unprinted in Ozhegov, Ushakov, and Kuznetsov · not the dative	selected a+NP or le · de+NP unprinted	German bare dative on abkaufen · French à+NP or de+NP · Italian da+NP · Portuguese a+NP or de+NP
Goods	object	を	accusative · bare genitive хлеба only in the Synodal quotation	direct object	direct object · German accusative
Price	unprinted as a numeral for in the lines opened	で in Kenkyusha · に of a sum in Saito · the gloss of 千円 says two thousand yen	за+accusative · a numeral unprinted	por on the transaction class · a + a rate	German für + a sum · French pour or à · Italian a or per named · Portuguese por
Shop	unprinted in the lines opened	で · あの店で · no goods in the clause	в or на plus prepositional	en+NP · intransitive in the line opened	German bei, unranked · French chez · Italian in or a · Portuguese na loja unprinted

On 買う the subject is the buyer. A seller phrase, where Saito prints one, is から. A beneficiary phrase, where IPAL prints one, is に. The analogy with English from and for is the added person-phrase. It is not a claim that a beneficiary and a seller are one role.

Notes

Working paper · October 2026 · Japanese micro-entry · Beyond Index 2

Buying in Japanese is not one に. Buyer (Voice, が, with は on the topic), Goods (complement of the root, を), Seller in から where Saito fills one, Beneficiary in bare に where IPAL fills one. ために is the proverb 児孫のために美田を買わず. 買ってやる and 買って上げる are outer. 買ってくれる and 買ってもらう are unprinted. に as a seller is unprinted. Price is で in Kenkyusha and に of a sum in Saito. The place Saito prints is で, あの店で買う, with no goods. English buy X from Y is from. English buy someone something has no particle on the person. German jemandem etwas kaufen is a bare dative. On abkaufen that dative is the seller. On 売る the に is the buyer.

JA micro-entry live Beyond Index 2 から seller · に beneficiary RU купить live PT comprar live IT comprare live ES comprar live FR acheter live DE kaufen live

Sense × language: buy · Japanese (買う). The purchase sense is the page. The incur sense, the value sense, and 女を買う stay off the frame. 購入する is cited where a dictionary prints the purchase. No English buy hub. Geometry neighbors: buy · купить, buy · comprar, buy · comprare, buy · comprar, buy · acheter, and buy · kaufen. Converse: 売る. No Index 2 Japanese cell lists this verb. The Index 2 Japanese cell is Risk / 賭ける.

Places
EN ⇄ JA strip
Examples
Voice
Derivations
Hierarchy
Geometry
Open items
Corpus and sources

Working paper. Japanese micro-entry, the seventh language of buy. Dictionary frames were read on デジタル大辞泉 and 精選版日本国語大辞典 as Kotobank prints 買う and 購入, on IPAL基本動詞 as the mibook table prints patterns 1.01–1.04, and on 研究社新和英中辞典 and 斎藤和英大辞典 as Weblio prints them, with Cambridge for English buy.

Constructed examples. Dictionary lines are marked as printed. Every other full clause is marked constructed. The particle-less person is starred because the filled person-marking beside the goods is に. 買ってもらう is constructed from the 貸す pattern and is not a line of the 買う articles. The Kenkyusha gloss of 千円で買う is left as two thousand yen.

Arity: several places, not one flat verb. Index 2 does not list 買う. Surface count can name a buyer, the goods, a seller, a beneficiary, a price, and a place. The lexicon does not list those as co-arguments of one flat V. Voice adds the Buyer. The root takes the Goods. から adds a Seller where Saito fills one. Bare に adds a Beneficiary where IPAL fills one. で or に of a sum adds a Price where a line prints one. で adds a place where Saito prints one. ［可能］かえる is morphology. No telicity claim is made from it, or from 買われぬ.

What this page does not do. It does not open an English page of buy. It does not edit kaufen, acheter, comprar, comprare, comprar, or купить beyond the language list. The incur sense and the value sense stop at the citation. 明鏡国語辞典, 大辞林, プログレッシブ和英中辞典, and the IPAL PDF were not opened.

Hierarchy

Not a flat grid of six sisters, and not one particle copied from the English gloss. Voice adds the Buyer. The root takes the Goods. から adds the Seller where the line is Saito’s 誰から. Bare に adds the Beneficiary where the line is 娘に. で of 千円, or に of 百円, adds a Price. で of あの店 adds the place. ために and the benefactive auxiliaries sit outside that core. The drawing is working and revisable.

What Japanese changes, against English from, is that the seller particle which Saito prints is から, and that デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL’s purchase patterns do not print it at all. What Japanese changes, against English his mother and against German jemandem, is that the printed beneficiary has the particle に. A particle-less person is unprinted. The printed Japanese price has two particles, で and に, and the Kenkyusha gloss of 千円で does not match the numeral 千. ［動ワ五（ハ四）］ and ［可能］かえる name the paradigm. They are not a claim about an endpoint.

Geometry · buy beside купить, comprar, comprar, comprare, acheter, and kaufen

English buy. Beneficiary as the first object of [+ two objects], or in for. Seller in from. A numeral for is unprinted in the lines opened. Believe sense buy that story, informal. No English page is opened.
買う. Buyer が, topic は. Goods を. Seller から where Saito prints it, and unprinted in デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL 1.01–1.02. に as seller unprinted. Beneficiary bare に in IPAL 1.02. ために in the proverb. 買ってやる and 買って上げる outer. Price で or に of a sum. Place で, with no goods in the printed clause. 購入する prints を only.
купить / покупать. Nominative buyer. Accusative goods. Seller in у+genitive where Wiktionary prints it. Beneficiary as a bare dative. Japanese から is the seller particle Saito prints. Japanese に is the beneficiary particle IPAL prints. Neither is a bare dative.
comprar. Seller in a or de. Beneficiary in para. One a-phrase left as the seller or as para. Japanese から is not given that second reading, and the Japanese beneficiary has に.
comprar. Selected a+NP or le of the Seller. para+NP of the Beneficiary. Japanese から is the seller, and the Japanese に is not that le.
comprare. Full Seller da+NP. Dative clitic glossed per or da. Japanese prints the seller on から and the beneficiary on に, and does not gloss one marker both ways.
acheter. à+NP of the Seller or of the Beneficiary. Japanese does not put both readings on one phrase.
kaufen. Accusative goods. Bare dative beneficiary, the reading of 娘に, with no particle. Price für + a sum. On abkaufen the bare dative is the seller. Japanese keeps one lemma, and the seller marking that is printed is から. On 売る the に is the buyer, and the seller is the subject.

Open items

から in デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL 1.01–1.02. Unprinted on the purchase. The source is Saito’s 誰から買ったか. IPAL 1.03’s 妻から is the incur sense. Not supplied from outside those lines.
に as the Seller. Unprinted. The printed person-に on the purchase is IPAL’s 娘に and, with the auxiliary, Saito’s お前には and Kenkyusha’s 君にも. Not constructed as a seller.
A bare に beneficiary in デジタル大辞泉 and in Kenkyusha. Unprinted. IPAL 1.02 prints 娘にプレゼントを買った. Not copied onto the other two articles.
A free modern ために. Unprinted. The printed phrase is 児孫のために美田を買わず. Not constructed.
買ってくれる and 買ってもらう on 買う. Unprinted. One constructed 買ってもらう line shows the giver に, on the pattern of KAMUS 友だちに貸してもらった. It is not a dictionary line of 買う.
Seller, beneficiary, goods, and a sum in one clause. Unprinted. IPAL 1.02 has no seller and no price. Saito’s seller line has no price. Kenkyusha’s price row has no person. The shop line has no goods. Not constructed as a stack.
購入する with a seller, a price, a place, or a beneficiary. Unprinted. The filled line is 日用品を購入する. Not given the full frame of 買う.
A finite passive of 買う that names the buyer. Unprinted. 金で幸福は買われぬ has the thing as subject and no agent. ［可能］かえる has no clause. Not constructed. Not read as telicity.
買わせる. Unprinted. An -sase- form would be an outer wrap, not a lexical argument. Not constructed.
明鏡国語辞典, 大辞林, プログレッシブ和英中辞典, and the IPAL PDF of かう. Not opened. No frame is supplied from them.
A numeral for on English buy. Unprinted in the Cambridge lines opened here. Not supplied from outside those lines.

Corpus filenames and sources

Dictionary frames: デジタル大辞泉 and 精選版日本国語大辞典, 買う and 購入, as Kotobank prints them; IPAL基本動詞, patterns 1.01–1.04, as the mibook table prints them; 研究社新和英中辞典 and 斎藤和英大辞典, as Weblio prints them; Cambridge buy. Constructed clauses put a printed marker on a named buyer. Index 2 does not list this lemma. 明鏡国語辞典, 大辞林, プログレッシブ和英中辞典, and the IPAL PDF were not opened.

デジタル大辞泉 · 買う kotobank.jp · 買う · ［動ワ五（ハ四）］ · 欲しい物を―・う · 権利を―・う · ［可能］かえる · 下接句児孫のために美田を買わず · 五百金に買う
精選版日本国語大辞典 · 買う kotobank.jp · 買う · 代価を払って品物等を受け取る · classical examples · no modern から
デジタル大辞泉 · 購入 kotobank.jp · 購入 · ［名］(スル) · 日用品を購入する · seller unprinted
IPAL基本動詞 · 買う mibook · かう 1.01–1.04 · 彼が車を買った · 娘にプレゼントを買った · 恨みを買った · the PDF was not opened
研究社新和英中辞典 · 買う ejje.weblio.jp · 買う · 千円で買う · gloss two thousand yen · 買って上げようか · no から
斎藤和英大辞典 · 買う ejje.weblio.jp · 買う · 誰から買ったか · 百円に買った · あの店で買う · 買ってやろう
Cambridge · buy dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/buy · [+ two objects] · for his mother · from a friend of mine
KAMUS · 貸す lend · 貸す · 友だちに貸してもらった · the giver に of もらう · not a line of 買う
Russian buy · купить · у+genitive seller · bare dative beneficiary
Portuguese buy · comprar · a seller or para
Spanish buy · comprar · le seller · para beneficiary
Italian buy · comprare · gli glossed per or da
French buy · acheter · à seller or beneficiary
German buy · kaufen · dative beneficiary · abkaufen dative seller
Japanese sell sell · 売る · に buyer · seller is the subject

Records the が Buyer and the を Goods of 買う. Records that a Seller phrase, where Saito prints one, is から, and that デジタル大辞泉, Kenkyusha, and IPAL’s purchase patterns do not print it. Records that the Beneficiary IPAL prints is bare に, and that に is not the seller. Records で and に of a price, and で of a shop, as separate seats. Records 購入する as を only. Does not open an English page.