懐かしい

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
なつ
Grade: S
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
懷かしい (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Originally derived from verb 懐く (natsuku, to get used to and keep close; to become fond of),[1][2][3] itself an abbreviation of 馴れ付く (naretsuku) of the same meaning.[1] The adjective originally described wanting to keep something close, wanting to express fondness for something. Over time, this term was used more to describe reminiscences, leading to the modern meaning.[1]

Pronunciation

  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「懐かしい
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 懐かしく つかしく
つかし

Terminal (終止形) 懐かしい つかし
Attributive (連体形) 懐かしい つかし
Key constructions
Informal negative 懐かしくない つかしくない
つかしくない

Informal past 懐かしかった つかしかった
つかしかった

Informal negative past 懐かしくなかった つかしくなかった
つかしくなかった

Formal 懐かしいです つかしいです
Conjunctive 懐かしくて つかしくて
つかしくて

Conditional 懐かしければ つかしければ
つかしければ

Adjective

(なつ)かしい (natsukashii-i (adverbial (なつ)かしく (natsukashiku))

  1. nostalgic, reminiscent of good memories, missed, longed for, yearned after
  2. (archaic) dear, beloved, cherished, sweet

Usage notes

The second meaning of 懐かしい is largely equivalent to a verb in English, even though it functions grammatically as an adjective. In this regard it is quite similar to the adjective 好き (suki, liked). In Japanese, to express a yearning for something, or a slightly nostalgic feeling of missing something, you modify the object that is missed (such as home, one's old neighborhood, one's friend, one's cat) with 懐かしい. In this regard, Japanese is quite unlike English.

Inflection

Derived terms

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 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 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  4. ^ 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