Tomaru, Yameru, and Yamu

[ayuking8716]

みんなさん こんにちは!

I would like to ask for clarification regarding the use of TOMARU, YAMERU and YAMU because these words mean the same - TO STOP. I always thought only yameru means stop because I did karate in high school and everytime our sensei wants us to stop what we're doing, or in competitions after we score points against the opponent the referee would always shout YAME!

Could anyone please teach me the usage of these synonymous words?

おねがいします!

ありがとう ございます!

[jkerianjapanesepod5596]

Tomaru is to stop in the sense of movement. 止まった implies that you stopped moving, walking, or taking some other movement-related action. Perhaps you can think of it as "to halt".

Yameru is a bit more generic, meaning to stop whatever you're doing.

Yamu is generally used for natural elements (wind, snow, etc), and means "X is over/ending". It shows up occasionally in other contexts, but I believe most of the time this usage is for emphasis, implying that the end was as inevitable/forceful as an act of nature.

[ayuking8716]

oh ok! I get it now. thank you very much!