忙しい

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
いそが
Grade: S
kun'yomi
Alternative spellings
急がしい (uncommon)
急しい (rare)

Derived from verb 急ぐ (isogu, to hurry, to rush, to hasten).[1][2][3]

First attested in a text from 850.[4]

By one analysis, this is the verb's 未然形 (mizenkei, incomplete or irrealis form) 急が (isoga) plus the adjectivizing suffix しい (-shii, having that kind of quality, classical terminal form -shi).

Alternatively, may be derived from the causative. The classical terminal form of the adjective is identical to the classical continuative or infinitive form of the causative verb, which was used in certain constructions to conclude sentences.

  • 急ぐ (isogu, to rush, to hurry)急がす (isogasu, to cause to rush, to cause to hurry)急がし (isogashi, having the quality of causing one to rush or hurry)

Pronunciation

  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「忙しい
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 忙しく そがしく
そがし

Terminal (終止形) 忙しい そがし
Attributive (連体形) 忙しい そがし
Key constructions
Informal negative 忙しくない そがしくない
そがしくない

Informal past 忙しかった そがしかった
そがしかった

Informal negative past 忙しくなかった そがしくなかった
そがしくなかった

Formal 忙しいです そがしいです
Conjunctive 忙しくて そがしくて
そがしくて

Conditional 忙しければ そがしければ
そがしければ

Adjective

(いそが)しい (isogashii-i (adverbial (いそが)しく (isogashiku))

  1. busy
    Antonym: (hima)
    (かれ)いつも(いそが)しいこと()(わけ)にしている。
    Kare wa itsumo isogashii koto o iiwake ni shite iru.
    He always uses the excuse that he is too busy.
    • c. 10011014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari (Otome), text here:
      (おお)殿(との)も、かやうの()(あそ)びに(こころ)()めたまひて、いそがしき()(せい)()どもをば(のが)れたまふなりけり。
      Ōtono mo, kayō no o-asobi ni kokoro tometamaite, isogashiki go-seiji domo o ba nogaretamau narikeri.
      The lord would also kept his attention on this kind of pleasure, and escape from all his busy governmental duties.
  2. restless, fidgety
Inflection

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
せわ
Grade: S
kun'yomi

*⟨sepasi⟩/seɸaɕi//sewaɕiki//sewaɕiː/

Cognate with 狭い (sebai), older form of 狭い (semai, adjective, lacking in space),[1] expanding on the meaning towards “lacking in time”.

First cited to a text from 1020.[1]

Pronunciation

Adjective

(せわ)しい (sewashiiせはしい (sefasii)?-i (adverbial (せわ)しく (sewashiku))

  1. busy, hurried
  2. restless, fidgety
Inflection
Synonyms
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 2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ 忙しい”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  4. ^ 忙・急”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  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. ^ 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
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.