珍しい

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Japanese

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Kanji in this term
めずら
Grade: S
kun'yomi

Etymology

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From classical -na adjective (mezura) adjectivizing suffix しい (shii).

Ultimately from Old Japanese verb 愛づ (medu, medzu), modern Japanese 愛でる (mederu, to love; to admire, to appreciate).[1][2]

The meaning originally referred to something that was admirable or favorable, something that had value, as an extension of the underlying verb. This meaning is used in the Man'yōshū, dating to the mid-700s. This further extended to indicate something that was rare or unusual in ways that one would find notable or attractive, and this meaning was also already used in the Man'yōshū. Over time, the admirable sense weakened, and the rare sense became dominant.

Cognate with Northern Amami Ōshima 珍っさり (むぃずぃらっさり, mïzïrassari).

Pronunciation

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  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「珍しい
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 珍しく ずらしく
ずらし
[mèzúráꜜshìkù]
[mèzúráshíꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形) 珍しい ずらし [mèzúráshíꜜì]
Attributive (連体形) 珍しい ずらし [mèzúráshíꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative 珍しくない ずらしくない
ずらしくない
[mèzúráꜜshìkùnàì]
[mèzúráshíꜜkùnàì]
Informal past 珍しかった ずらしかった
ずらしかった
[mèzúráꜜshìkàttà]
[mèzúráshíꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past 珍しくなかった ずらしくなかった
ずらしくなかった
[mèzúráꜜshìkùnàkàttà]
[mèzúráshíꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal 珍しいです ずらしいです [mèzúráshíꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive 珍しくて ずらしくて
ずらしくて
[mèzúráꜜshìkùtè]
[mèzúráshíꜜkùtè]
Conditional 珍しければ ずらしければ
ずらしければ
[mèzúráꜜshìkèrèbà]
[mèzúráshíꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

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(めずら)しい (mezurashiiめづらしい (medurasii)?-i (adverbial (めずら)しく (mezurashiku))

  1. rare, unusual
    このコイン(めずら)しい
    Kono koin wa mezurashii.
    This coin is rare.

Inflection

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References

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  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 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN