ほしい

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
欲しい

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *pəsi. Appears in the Man'yōshū of 759 CE and the Kojiki of 712 CE.[1]

Appears to be related to now-obsolete verb 欲る (horu, “to wish for, to want”). A surface analysis might suggest a derivation from root ho- + adjective-forming suffix しい (shii). However, the verb root is actually hor-, as 欲る (horu) has the 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) pattern, pointing towards a less straightforward derivation.

Pronunciation

  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「欲しい」
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 欲しく ほしく
ほしく
Terminal (終止形) 欲しい ほしい
Attributive (連体形) 欲しい ほしい
Key constructions
Informal negative 欲しくない ほしくない
ほしくない
Informal past 欲しかった ほしかった
ほしかった
Informal negative past 欲しくなかった ほしくなかった
ほしくなかった
Formal 欲しいです ほしいです
Conjunctive 欲しくて ほしくて
ほしくて
Conditional 欲しければ ほしければ
ほしければ

Adjective

ほしい • (hoshii) -i (adverbial ほしく (hoshiku))

  1. 欲しい: wanted, desired, needed
    私(わたし)はこの本(ほん)が欲(ほ)しいです。
    Watashi wa kono hon ga hoshii desu.
    As for me, this book is wanted → I want this book.
    (See usage notes below.)
  2. (after a -て verb form) wanted or desirable that someone perform the verb
    彼(かの)女(じょ)に勝(か)ってほしかった。
    Kanojo ni katte hoshikatta.
    It was wanted of her to win → I wanted her to win.
    (See usage notes below.)
Usage notes
  • About ほしい used to describe nouns:
  • About -て + ほしい:
    • The agent of the verb can be introduced by either に (ni) or が (ga).
      娘(むすめ)に笑(わら)ってほしい。
      Musume ni waratte hoshii.
      I want my daughter to have a happy face.
      雨(あめ)が降(ふ)ってほしい。
      Ame ga futte hoshii.
      (Lit. "The rain falls and (it) is wanted") I am waiting for a rain.
    • に can be ambiguous when an indirect object is involved, as this also takes に.
      佐(さ)藤(とう)さんに英(えい)語(ご)を教(おし)えてほしい。
      Satō-san ni Eigo o oshiete hoshii.
      I want someone to teach Sato English. (indirect object)
      I want Sato to teach English. (agent)
    • When the subject (the person that wants) is not the speaker, it is introduced by the topic maker は (wa).
      親(おや)は私(わたし)にもっとしっかりしてほしい。
      Oya wa watashi ni motto shikkari shite hoshii.
      My parents want me to work harder.
    • ほしい does not express the meaning "someone wants to do something themselves". In that case, the verb suffix たい is usually used instead. Compare:
      彼(かの)女(じょ)は帰(かえ)りたいと言(い)った。
      Kanojo wa kaeritai to itta.
      She said she wants to go home.
      彼(かの)女(じょ)は帰(かえ)ってほしい。
      Kanojo wa kaette hoshii.
      I want her to go home.
  • A related verb denoting willingness (欲(ほっ)する (hossuru)) exists, but its usage is quite uncommon.
  • Depending on context, the usage of this word could be considered overly direct or childish.
  • When following the ない (nai) form of a verb + で (de), this construction means "don't want to".
    君(きみ)は帰(かえ)らないでほしい。
    Kimi wa kaeranaide hoshii.
    I don't want you to go back.
  • This term is commonly spelled in hiragana, with the kanji spelling reserved for formal contexts.
Inflection
Inflection of ほしい
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) ほしかろ hoshikaro
Continuative (連用形) ほしく hoshiku
Terminal (終止形) ほしい hoshii
Attributive (連体形) ほしい hoshii
Hypothetical (仮定形) ほしけれ hoshikere
Imperative (命令形) ほしかれ hoshikare
Key constructions
Informal negative ほしくない hoshiku nai
Informal past ほしかった hoshikatta
Informal negative past ほしくなかった hoshiku nakatta
Formal ほしいです hoshii desu
Formal negative ほしくないです hoshiku nai desu
Formal past ほしかったです hoshikatta desu
Formal negative past ほしくなかったです hoshiku nakatta desu
Conjunctive ほしくて hoshikute
Conditional ほしければ hoshikereba
Provisional ほしかったら hoshikattara
Volitional ほしかろう hoshikarō
Adverbial ほしく hoshiku
Degree ほしさ hoshisa
Classical conjugation of "ほし" (シク活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形) ほしく
ほしから		 fosiku
fosikara
Continuative (連用形) ほしく
ほしかり		 fosiku
fosikari
Terminal (終止形) ほし fosi
Attributive (連体形) ほしき
ほしかる		 fosiki
fosikaru
Realis (已然形) ほしけれ fosikere
Imperative (命令形) ほしかれ fosikare
Key constructions
Negative ほしからず fosikarazu
Contrasting conjunction ほしけれど fosikeredo
Causal conjunction ほしければ fosikereba
Conditional conjunction ほしくば fosikuba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge) ほしかりき fosikariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge) ほしかりけり fosikarikeri
Adverbial ほしく fosiku
Without auxiliary verb.
With auxiliary verb.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
乾し飯
乾飯
干し飯
糒
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Wikipedia ja

/hosi ipi/ → /hosipi/ → /hosifi/ → /hoɕifi/ → /hoɕiː/

Shift from ほしいい (hoshiī)[6][7] due to the prohibition in Old Japanese against word-medial vowel clusters. (See Old_Japanese#Morphophonemics at Wikipedia.)

Ultimately a compound of 干し (hoshi, “drying; dried”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 干す (hosu, “to dry, to air out”)) +‎ 飯 (ī, “cooked grain (usually rice)”).[8][9][3]

First cited in the Nihon Shoki of 720.[6]

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

ほしい • (hoshii) ←ほしひ (fosifi)?

  1. dried rice (after already being cooked once)
    Synonym: かれいい (kareii)
    • 1883, 雨森芳洲 (Amenomori Hōshū), “飲食”, in 浦瀬裕, editor, 再刊交隣須知 (Saikan kōrin suchi)‎NDL NLK, 外務省 edition, volume 3:
      糗(ハツタイ)ホシイニ白(シロ)砂(ザ)糖(タウ)ヲマゼテダセ
      Hattai Hoshii ni shirozatō o mazete dase
      Parched rice: Stir a little white sugar into the parched rice and serve it
      糗 강(乾)밥에[SIC] 셜당(雪糖)을 타셔 내여라 (original Korean)

Etymology 3

Proper noun

ほしい • (Hoshii) 

  1. 星井: a surname

References

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “ほし・い 【欲】Paid subscription required”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  5. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 “ほしい［ほしひ］ 【糒】Paid subscription required”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
  7. ^ “糒”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  8. ^ “ほし‐いい［‥いひ］ 【干飯・乾飯・糒】Paid subscription required”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
  9. ^ “干し飯”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
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