たるもの / たる
- 1Anyone who is an N; as one who holds the position or belongs to the category of N, usually followed by what that person should or must do.Ex. 1
- 2Attributive use, N₁ たる N₂: an N₂ who is an N₁, stressing that status. It can appear in expectations as well as critical statements about someone in that role.Ex. 3
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A stiff, formal expression used in speeches, editorials and moral statements about the conduct expected of a role or kind of person. The first part names the role or category, and the rest states what is expected of it. Compared with として, it is far more emphatic and foregrounds the weight and responsibility of the status.
Learners should follow たるもの with a statement of expected conduct or obligation, not a neutral description of facts.
Note that the noun should imply a standard of conduct, such as a role (医者, 教育者) or a broad category (人間, 男).
Note that it sounds heavy and old-fashioned, so it is out of place in casual conversation.
- 1.べきだN2「べきだ」attaches to verbs and the like as a predicate and means "should," with a neutral register; 「べきだった」can also be used to evaluate the past. 「たるもの」instead attaches to a status noun to set up a premise, so the two cannot swap, and they often combine as 「Nたるもの、〜べきだ」.
- 2.てしかるべきだN1「てしかるべきだ」attaches to a verb's て-form and means "it ought to be so," often implying dissatisfaction with the current state; 「たるもの」attaches to a status noun and stresses "befitting one's status," with the specific requirement stated in the following clause. The two cannot swap but can appear in the same sentence.
- 3.としてN3「として」is neutral and can mean acting in a certain capacity or using something for a purpose, so the following clause is not limited to duties; 「たるもの」is written-formal and preachy, stressing the norms a status must keep. To modify a noun, use 「としての」; 「たる」attaches directly to a noun.
- 4.〜としてのN2「としての」can only modify nouns and is close to 「たる」's "noun + たる + noun" use, but its register is neutral and it is common in speech as well; 「たるもの」is followed by preachy statements of obligation and duty, which 「としての」does not have.
- 5.ものだN2Only the admonishing sense of 「ものだ」is close: grounded in social common sense, it attaches to verbs in the dictionary form, the ない-form, and the like, and comes at the end of a sentence with a neutral register; 「たるもの」attaches to a status noun and stresses the norms that status demands, in a more solemn tone. 「ものだ」also has senses of recollection and emotional reflection.
- 6.まじきN1「まじき」means "absolutely should not be" and is used to condemn; it can only modify nouns, takes the form 「にあるまじき」 after a status noun, and can also attach to verbs, whereas 「たるもの」states positively the duties one should fulfill. Both are written-formal, but they point in opposite directions and cannot swap.
たるもの names the role or category, and べきだ or ものだ often follows to state the obligation; てしかるべきだ judges an action itself as appropriate, while として and としての simply mean 'as' without the moral weight. まじき is the negative counterpart, marking conduct unacceptable for someone in a position (e.g. 教師にあるまじき行為).
