忙しい

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
忙
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] fusing its 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete or irrealis form”) 急が (isoga) with the adjectivizing suffix しい (-shii, “having that kind of quality”).

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) いそがし​い [ìsógáshíꜜì] (Nakadaka – [4])[3][2]
  • IPA(key): [iso̞ɡa̠ɕiː]
  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "忙しい"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 忙しく いそが​しく
いそがし​く
[ìsógáꜜshìkù]
[ìsógáshíꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形) 忙しい いそがし​い [ìsógáshíꜜì]
Attributive (連体形) 忙しい いそがし​い [ìsógáshíꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative 忙しくない いそが​しくない
いそがし​くない
[ìsógáꜜshìkùnàì]
[ìsógáshíꜜkùnàì]
Informal past 忙しかった いそが​しかった
いそがし​かった
[ìsógáꜜshìkàttà]
[ìsógáshíꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past 忙しくなかった いそが​しくなかった
いそがし​くなかった
[ìsógáꜜshìkùnàkàttà]
[ìsógáshíꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal 忙しいです いそがし​いです [ìsógáshíꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive 忙しくて いそが​しくて
いそがし​くて
[ìsógáꜜshìkùtè]
[ìsógáshíꜜkùtè]
Conditional 忙しければ いそが​しければ
いそがし​ければ
[ìsógáꜜshìkèrèbà]
[ìsógáshíꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

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

  1. busy
    • c. 1001–1014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari (Otome), text here:
      大(おお)殿(との)も、かやうの御(お)遊(あそ)びに心(こころ)止(と)めたまひて、いそがしき御(ご)政(せい)事(じ)どもをば逃(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.
    彼(かれ)はいつも忙(いそが)しいことを言(い)い訳(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.
    Antonym: 暇 (hima)
  2. restless, fidgety
Inflection

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
忙
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

  • (Tokyo) せわし​い [sèwáshíꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])[2]
  • IPA(key): [se̞ɰᵝa̠ɕiː]

Adjective

忙(せわ)しい • (sewashii) ←せはしい (sefasī)? -i (adverbial 忙(せわ)しく (sewashiku))

  1. busy, hurried
  2. restless, fidgety
Inflection
Synonyms
Derived terms
  • 忙(せわ)忙(せわ)しい (sewasewashī)

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.
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