短い

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
みじか
Grade: 3
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
短かい (less common, possibly proscribed)

⟨mi1zikasi⟩/mizikasi//mid͡ʑikaɕi//mid͡ʑikaki//mid͡ʑikai/

From Old Japanese.[1] Cited in the Man'yōshū, dated to roughly 759 CE.[2]

Appears to be derived as a compound, but the constituent parts remain obscure. The stem form mijika is also found in compounds, and in the now-obsolete adjective forms 短やか (mijikayaka) and 短らか (mijikaraka), indicating that the ‑ka in mijika is not the adjectivizing suffix (‑ka) (as in 静か shizuka), and is instead part of the root term.

Pronunciation

  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「短い
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 短く かく
じか

Terminal (終止形) 短い じか
Attributive (連体形) 短い じか
Key constructions
Informal negative 短くない かくない
じかくない

Informal past 短かった かかった
じかかった

Informal negative past 短くなかった かくなかった
じかくなかった

Formal 短いです じかいです
Conjunctive 短くて かくて
じかくて

Conditional 短ければ かければ
じかければ

Adjective

(みじか) (mijikai-i (adverbial (みじか) (mijikaku))

  1. short, brief
    Synonym: (Kagoshima) みひけ (mihike)
  2. short, brief (in time)
  3. short (in space, from one point to another)
  4. short, brief (in length, such as a text or speech)
  5. (archaic) short (in height)
    Mostly superseded in modern usage by 低い (hikui, short, in height).
  6. common, not part of the aristocracy
  7. short on intelligence or maturity: dimwitted, dull; shallow, superficial
    Synonyms: 鈍い (nibui, dim, dull), 浅薄 (senpaku, shallow, superficial)
  8. short of attention: fickle, shallow-hearted, flighty
    Synonyms: 薄情 (hakujō, shallow-hearted, fickle, unfeeling), 変わりやすい (kawariyasui, fickle, changeable, unsettled)
  9. short-tempered, impatient, impetuous
    Synonyms: せっかち (sekkachi, hasty, impetuous), 短気 (tanki, quick-tempered, impatient)
Inflection
Antonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
みじか > みちか
Grade: 3
irregular

Shift from standard Japanese mijikai.

Pronunciation

Adjective

(みちか) (michikai-i (adverbial (みちか) (michikaku))

  1. (Ibaraki dialect) short, brief

References

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ^
    c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 15, poem 3744:
    , text available online here
  3. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Further reading