卑しい

Japanese

Kanji in this term
卑
いや
Grade: S
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings
卑しい (kyūjitai)
賎しい

Etymology

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.[1]

Pronunciation

  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "卑しい"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 卑しく いや​しく
いやし​く
[ìyáꜜshìkù]
[ìyáshíꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形) 卑しい いやし​い [ìyáshíꜜì]
Attributive (連体形) 卑しい いやし​い [ìyáshíꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative 卑しくない いや​しくない
いやし​くない
[ìyáꜜshìkùnàì]
[ìyáshíꜜkùnàì]
Informal past 卑しかった いや​しかった
いやし​かった
[ìyáꜜshìkàttà]
[ìyáshíꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past 卑しくなかった いや​しくなかった
いやし​くなかった
[ìyáꜜshìkùnàkàttà]
[ìyáshíꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal 卑しいです いやし​いです [ìyáshíꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive 卑しくて いや​しくて
いやし​くて
[ìyáꜜshìkùtè]
[ìyáshíꜜkùtè]
Conditional 卑しければ いや​しければ
いやし​ければ
[ìyáꜜshìkèrèbà]
[ìyáshíꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

卑(いや)しい • (iyashii) -i (adverbial 卑(いや)しく (iyashiku))

  1. lowborn, lowly
    • 1905–06, Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat (text here)
      大(だい)王(おう)にしては少(しょう)々(しょう)言(こと)葉(ば)が卑(いや)しいと思(おも)った
      daiō ni shite wa shōshō kotoba ga iyashii to omotta
      I thought those were rather lowly words for a king
  2. shabby
  3. greedy, avaricious
  4. vulgar, mean (person)

Inflection

References

  1. “賤・卑・鄙”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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