Today’s word is another productive way of making verbs:

<N> + ばむ

Roughly: to (begin to) turn into or be the quality of <the noun>.

Note that the “ば” sometimes is hidden within the kanji reading.

E.g.
汗ばむ :: あせばむ – start to get sweaty
黒ばむ :: くろばむ – blacken in color
黄ばむ :: きばむ – turn yellow in color/tinged with age
枯ればむ :: かればむ – begin to wither/dry out

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I stumbled upon a bunch of semi-archaic words today, but I think I’ve found a new rule. There are some one-kanji words, read in the on-reading, that can be turned into verbs using ずる (the rendaku/voiced form of する). Some of these have undergone changes — from regular use — so they show up as じる (monograde) from the -i stem. Really helpful from a Chinese perspective!

E.g.
変(へん)ずる/変じる
感(かん)ずる／感じる
命(めい)ずる／命じる

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<N+の / A / V+(i)> + 頃 :: ころ / ごろ

The moment/right time for something. (Turns into a noun),

良い頃 — “High time to…”
食べ頃 / 食い頃 — ripe/in season/ready to eat
月の頃 — best time to see the moon

Rendaku (voiced) forms:
火/灯点し頃 — “lamp lighting time” / early evening
見頃 — best time to see something

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<V+(i)> + 付け :: つけ

Favourite/regular thing e.g.
行き付け :: い_き^つ^け^ – one's regular place to go / haunt
乗り付け :: の_り^つ^け^ – one's regular taxi

And then gets extended to:
掛かり付けの :: か_か^り^つ^け_の_ to mean personal e.g.
掛かり付けの医者 :: か_か^り^つ^け_の_い_しゃ^ – family doctor.

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Today's a two-parter for 'in the midst of' doing something.

Nouns get:
<N> + 中 :: ちゅう

As in:
準備中 :: じゅ^ん_び_ちゅ_う_
in the midst of preparation ("closed" sign on shops)
or
営業中 :: え_い^ぎょ^う^ちゅ^う^ / 商い中 :: あ_き^な_い_ちゅ_う_ – in the midst of trade ("open" sign on shops)

Verbs get:
<V+(i)> + かけ (or 掛け)

As in:
働きかけ :: は_た^ら^き^か^け^ – in the midst of work

(This has some other meanings that are interesting too. I'll loop back on this.)

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<V-(i)> + たて :: pitch pattern seems to follow the word it attaches to.

<verb> just occurred.

Like:
卒業したて :: そ_つ^ぎょ^う^し^た^て^ – just graduated

Used to make compounds like:
焼きたて :: や_き^た^て^ – freshly made (food)
生まれたて :: う_ま^れ^た^て^ – newborn

Often spelled with the kanji from its derivative verb 立つ (to stand) :: た^つ_

Chinese equivalent: 剛 (adv. in CN, a noun in JP meaning 'firm') :: ご^う_

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課金 :: か_•き^ん^ :: ㄎㄜˋㄐㄧㄣ

Originally: the tax levied by an army on an occupied population.

Now: an in-app purchase or micro-transaction. Seems appropriate.

Same meaning and usage in Mandarin, with 氪金 interchangeable.

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As I’m trying to pick up some Japanese ahead of moving there, I’m finding picking a word of the day really sticky (memory-wise). I’ll share my best ones!

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