Structure
Noun + めいて
Noun + めいている
Noun[Season] + めいてきた
Noun + めいた + Noun
Details
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Standard
About めく・めいた
めく is a fairly unique う-Verb in Japanese in that it will only be used as a suffix. This is due to its meaning of 'to show signs of (A)', or 'to have the appearance of (A)'. It will be attached to nouns that the speaker experiences to be the case.
As めく itself is a verb, it may appear in several different conjugation forms depending on how it is describing the rest of the sentence. When connected directly to a second noun, the past-tense form めいた is most common.
This 'that the speaker experiences to be the case' part is important, as めく will almost always highlight the speaker's own personal feelings in regard to (A), and how they perceive it. The thing being described as (A) will usually not actually be (A), and the speaker is often aware of this fact.
Caution
めく is mostly used with set nouns, so it is best to only use it with expressions that you have already heard. Some examples are 謎めく 'to appear to be a riddle', 皮肉めく 'to appear to be sarcastic', 言い訳めく 'to appear to be an excuse', 作り物めく 'to appear to be fictitious', and seasons of the year.
Examples
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教室がざわめいているが、大丈夫だろうか?
The classroom is somewhat astir, but I wonder if it will be fine.
桜も咲いてすっかり春めいてきました。
The cherry blossoms are blooming, and it starting to thoroughly show signs of being spring.
作り物めいて見えるほど、平穏で美しい景色だった。
It was calm and beautiful scenery, to the point of looking man-made.
色めいた彼女の表情に、思わずドキッとしました。
My heart skipped a beat when her expression showed signs of being amorous.
芝居めいた彼のプレゼンには、あまり魅力を感じません。
I don’t feel any allure toward his presentation that feels almost like an act.
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GuideToJapanese
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Imabi
JLPT 1 Grammar めく
JapaneseTest4You
めく
JapanTimes
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Try N1
Page 133
Sou Matome Bunpou N1
Page 114
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めく・めいた – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (3 in total)
matt_in_mito
Can anyone enlighten me as to why this takes this form? I can’t get my head round it…
shankarsuresh
I’ve got the same question wrong too (originally put めいた)
casual
I don’t have an answer as to why that is, but it seems you use めいてる・めいて来た・めいていた when it is the main verb (not a relative clause modifying a noun). Maybe to the native ear “to be showing signs of X” just sounds like a continuous process.
Some more examples from https://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-jlpt-n1-grammar-めく-meku/, めく – Vocabulary details – jpdb, and 【JLPT N1】「めく」 - 日本語教師のN1et
- 冗談めいてるけど、本気でそう思ってるように聞こえる。
- 簡単でむずかしいとは、なんだかすこし逆説めいているぜ。
- 犯人は二歳以上十歳まで、大人しめ、無邪気ながら、どこか狂気めいていた。
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