し

See also: じ [U+3058 HIRAGANA LETTER ZI], レ [U+30EC KATAKANA LETTER RE], 乚 [U+4E5A CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E5A], and ᘂ [U+1602 CANADIAN SYLLABICS CARRIER NU]

し U+3057, し HIRAGANA LETTER SI ← ざ [U+3056] Hiragana じ → [U+3058]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɕi]

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 之 in the cursive sōsho style.

Syllable

し • (shi) 

1. The hiragana syllable し (shi). Its equivalent in katakana is シ (shi). It is the twelfth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is さ行い段 (sa-gyō i-dan, “row sa, section i”).

Derived terms

• しゃ (sha), しゅ (shu), しょ (sho)
• じ (ji)

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こ𛄲ご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐ゐ゙, 𛄟, ゑ𛅑ゑ゙, を𛅒を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Particle

し • (shi) 

1. conjunctive particle, separates items in a list of reasons
   • 1937, 夢野久作(ゆめのきゅうさく) [Yumeno Kyūsaku], 恐(おそ)ろしい東京(とうきょう) (Osoroshii Tōkyō)‎^[1]:

     見(み)渡(わた)す限(かぎ)り百(ひゃっ)貨(か)店(てん)みたいで、何処(どこ)で切(きっ)符(ぷ)を売(う)っているのかわからないし、プラットフォームらしいものもないので、間(まち)違(が)ったのかなと思(おも)って又(また)石(いし)段(だん)を上(のぼ)って見(み)ると、丸(まる)キリ知(し)らない繁(はん)華(か)な町(まち)である。

     Miwatasu kagiri hyakkaten mitai de, doko de kippu o utteiru no ka wakaranai shi, purattofōmu rashii mono mo nai no de, machigatta no ka na to omotte mata ishidan o nobottemiruto, marukiri shiranai hanka na machi de aru.

     What I could see looked like a department store, I had no idea where tickets were being sold, and there wasn't anything like a platform. Wondering if I haven't come to the wrong place I once again walked up the stone stairs and a bustling street I wasn't familiar with filled my vision.

   • K-On!

     「でもでも、私(わたし)運(うん)動(どう)音(おん)痴(ち)だし、文(ぶん)化(か)系(けい)のクラブもよくわからないし…」

     “Demo demo, watashi undō onchi da shi, bunkakei no kurabu mo yoku wakaranai shi…”

     "But—but I'm terrible at sports and I don't really know anything about the cultural clubs…"

2. sentence-ending particle, indicating mild emphasis, and alluding to an inferable but deliberately omitted conclusion

   てかなんでやったし。

   Te ka nande yatta shi.

   But then, why did you do that [when you shouldn't have]?

Etymology 3

Alternative spellings
此 是 之 維 惟

Cognate with demonstrative pronoun そ (so).

Pronoun

し • (shi) 

1. third person personal pronoun; he, she, it
   • c. 759, Minamoto no Shitagō, book 5, poem 904:

     夕星乃 由布弊尓奈礼婆 伊射祢余登 手乎多豆佐波里 父母毛 表者奈佐我利 三枝之 中尓乎祢牟登 愛久 志我可多良倍婆

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • c. 759, Minamoto no Shitagō, book 19, poem 4191:

     鵜河立 取左牟安由能 之我波多波 吾等尓可伎无気 念之念婆

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • c. 759, Minamoto no Shitagō, book 19, poem 4254:

     八隅知之 吾大皇 秋花 之我色々尓 見賜 明米多麻比 酒見附 榮流今日之 安夜尓貴左

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. reflexive pronoun; one, oneself
   • c. 759, Minamoto no Shitagō, book 18, poem 4094:

     八十伴雄乎 麻都呂倍乃 牟気乃麻尓々々 老人毛 女童児毛 之我願 心太良比尓 撫賜 治賜婆

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • c. 935: Tosa Nikki (day 24)

     廿四日。講師、むまのはなむけしにいでませり。ありとあるかみしも、わらはまでゑひしれて、一文字をだにしらぬもの、しがあしは十文字にふみてぞあそぶ。

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • c. late 10th century: Ochikubo Monogatari (Volume 1)

     あなわかわかしの晝寢や。しが身のほど知らぬこそいと心憂けれ」とて、うちあざわらひ給ふ。

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of し – see the following entries.

【四】1 [numeral] four, 4 [noun] the fourth [affix] four [affix] fourth [affix] quadruple [affix] here and there

【詩】3 [noun] poem [noun] verse of poetry [noun] (poetry) Chinese poetry [noun] Short for 詩経 (“Shijing, the Book of Odes”).

【死】3 [noun] death [noun] (law, historical) one of the five punishments under the 律令 (Ritsuryō) system, the methods used are 絞 (kō, “strangling”) and 斬 (zan, “decapitation”) [affix] death, to die [affix] dead, unfunctional [affix] life-or-death situation [affix] dangerous, life-threatening [affix] (baseball) out

【師】5 [noun] teacher, Reverend

【仕】3 [noun] official, civil service [verb] Alternative spelling of し (shi, continuative of する (suru))

【市】2 [suffix] city

【氏】4 [noun] a family, a clan [noun] a certain person [suffix] (honorific) Mr.; Ms.

(This term, し, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as し, see Category:Japanese kanji read as し.)

Etymology 5

Suffix

し • (-shi) 

1. (Classical Japanese) the adnominal form of Classical and Old Japanese き (ki, past tense auxiliary), equivalent to modern た

   選(えら)ばれし者(もの)

   erabareshi mono

   the chosen one

   • 1994, “春よ、来い”, 松任谷由実 (lyrics), 松任谷由実 (music), performed by 松任谷由実:

     瞼(まぶた)閉(と)じればそこに　愛(あい)をくれし君(きみ)の　なつかしき声(こえ)がする

     mabuta tojireba soko ni ai o kureshi kimi no natsukashiki koe ga suru

     When I close my eyelids, I hear by my side the voice of beloved you who gave me love

Etymology 6

From Old Japanese. Not productive in modern usage.

Suffix

し • (-shi) 

1. (Classical Japanese) The 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal or predicative form”) of the conjugable ending for 形容詞 (keiyōshi, “-i adjectives”).

Usage notes

• In Classical and Old Japanese, this is the terminal ending for both しく (shiku) adjectives (those ending in しい (-shii) in modern usage, such as 楽しい (tanoshii, “fun”)) and く (ku) adjectives (those ending in い (-i) in modern usage, such as 高い (takai, “high, tall; expensive”)).
• Meanwhile, in modern Japanese, the terminal ending and adnominal ending both manifest as い (i).

Examples:

Classical Terminal	Classical Adnominal	Modern Terminal / Adnominal
楽(たの)し (tanoshi) 高(たか)し (takashi)	楽(たの)しき (tanoshiki) 高(たか)き (takaki)	楽(たの)しい (tanoshii) 高(たか)い (takai)

• Many Japanese adjectives were formed by appending this suffix to nouns, for example 大人 (otona, “adult”) +‎ し (-shi) makes Classical 大人(おとな)し (otonashi, modern form 大人(おとな)しい (otonashii)).

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "し" (ク活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	く[1] から[2]		ku kara
Continuative (連用形)	く[1] かり[2]		ku kari
Terminal (終止形)	し		si
Attributive (連体形)	き かる		ki karu
Realis (已然形)	けれ		kere
Imperative (命令形)	かれ		kare
Key constructions
Negative	からず		karazu
Contrasting conjunction	けれど		keredo
Causal conjunction	ければ		kereba
Conditional conjunction	くば		kuba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	かりき		kariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	かりけり		karikeri
Adverbial	く		ku
[1]Without auxiliary verb. [2]With auxiliary verb.

Classical conjugation of "し" (シク活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	しく[1] しから[2]		siku sikara
Continuative (連用形)	しく[1] しかり[2]		siku sikari
Terminal (終止形)	し		si
Attributive (連体形)	しき しかる		siki sikaru
Realis (已然形)	しけれ		sikere
Imperative (命令形)	しかれ		sikare
Key constructions
Negative	しからず		sikarazu
Contrasting conjunction	しけれど		sikeredo
Causal conjunction	しければ		sikereba
Conditional conjunction	しくば		sikuba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	しかりき		sikariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	しかりけり		sikarikeri
Adverbial	しく		siku
[1]Without auxiliary verb. [2]With auxiliary verb.

Etymology 7

Alternative spelling
為 (rare)

Verb

し • (shi) 

1. stem or continuative form of する (suru)

References

• Fujii, Sadakazu; Keiji Inaga (1989) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 18: Ochikubo Monogatari, Sumiyoshi Monogatari (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
• Hasegawa, Masaharu; Yūichirō Imanishi, Hiroshi Itō, Hiroshi Yoshioka (1989) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 24: Tosa Nikki, Kagerō Nikki, Murasaki Shikibu Nikki, Sarashina Nikki (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
• Satake, Akihiro; Hideo Yamada; Rikio Kudō; Masao Ōtani; Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 1: Man’yōshū 1 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1999, →ISBN.
• Satake, Akihiro; Hideo Yamada; Rikio Kudō; Masao Ōtani; Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 4: Man’yōshū 4 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 2003, →ISBN.