苦しい

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
苦
くる Grade: 3
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. First cited to the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE,^[1] and likely extant earlier as the intransitive verb 苦しむ (kurushimu, “to suffer, to be stressed out”) was first cited to the Kojiki of 712 CE.^[1]

Analyzable as a compound of bound morpheme ⟨kuru-⟩ (indicates stress or temper) +‎ ⟨-si⟩ (adjectivizing suffix, gives object the possession of the adjective's quality), ultimately from Proto-Japonic *kuru. Compare 狂う (kuruu, “to be mad, to get angry”).^[2] Compare also Miyako 苦 (guri) against Miyako 悲す (kanasu, Japanese 悲しい (kanashii, “sad”)).

The modern form kurushii is derived from Early Middle Japanese adjective 苦(くる)し (kurushi), with the 終(しゅう)止(し)形(けい) (shūshikei, “predicative form”) ending in し (shi) first replaced with the 連(れん)体(たい)形(けい) (rentaikei, “attributive form”) ending in しき (shiki), and then with the medial /-k-/ falling out to result in an ending of しい (shii).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ɾɯ̟ɕii]
(Tokyo) くるしい [kùrúshíꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])

Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 苦しい

Plain	苦しい	くるしい	`[kùrúshíꜜì]`
Conjunctive	苦しくて	くるしくてくるしくて	`[kùrúshíꜜkùtè]` `[kùrúꜜshìkùtè]`
Continuative	苦しく	くるしくくるしく	`[kùrúshíꜜkù]` `[kùrúꜜshìkù]`
Negative	苦しくない	くるしく・ないくるしく・ない	`[kùrúshíꜜkù náꜜì]` `[kùrúꜜshìkù náꜜì]`
Past	苦しかった	くるしかったくるしかった	`[kùrúshíꜜkàttà]` `[kùrúꜜshìkàttà]`
Negative past	苦しくなかった	くるしく・なかったくるしく・なかった	`[kùrúshíꜜkù náꜜkàttà]` `[kùrúꜜshìkù náꜜkàttà]`
Conditional	苦しければ	くるしければくるしければ	`[kùrúshíꜜkèrèbà]` `[kùrúꜜshìkèrèbà]`
Terminal	苦しい	くるしい	`[kùrúshíꜜì]`
Formal	苦しいです	くるしいです	`[kùrúshíꜜì dèsù]`

Adjective

苦(くる)しい • (kurushii) -i (adverbial 苦(くる)しく (kurushiku))

physically painful, agonizing
- 1999 October 15, Rumiko Takahashi, “地(じ)念(ねん)児(じ) [Jinenji]”, in [犬](いぬ)[夜](や)[叉](しゃ) [Inuyasha], volume 12 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 62:
  
  雲母(きらら)…苦(くる)しいの？
  Kirara… Kurushii no?
  Kirara… Does it still hurt?
difficult, strenuous, mentally trying
mentally agonizing
会(あ)えないなんて苦(くる)しいよ
aenai nante kurushii yo
Being unable to be by your side is painful.
tight (budget etc.), straitened
forced

Inflection

Inflection of **苦しい**
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	苦しかろ	くるしかろ	kurushikaro
Continuative (連用形)	苦しく	くるしく	kurushiku
Terminal (終止形)	苦しい	くるしい	kurushii
Attributive (連体形)	苦しい	くるしい	kurushii
Hypothetical (仮定形)	苦しけれ	くるしけれ	kurushikere
Imperative (命令形)	苦しかれ	くるしかれ	kurushikare
Key constructions
Informal negative	苦しくない	くるしくない	kurushiku nai
Informal past	苦しかった	くるしかった	kurushikatta
Informal negative past	苦しくなかった	くるしくなかった	kurushiku nakatta
Formal	苦しいです	くるしいです	kurushii desu
Formal negative	苦しくないです	くるしくないです	kurushiku nai desu
Formal past	苦しかったです	くるしかったです	kurushikatta desu
Formal negative past	苦しくなかったです	くるしくなかったです	kurushiku nakatta desu
Conjunctive	苦しくて	くるしくて	kurushikute
Conditional	苦しければ	くるしければ	kurushikereba
Provisional	苦しかったら	くるしかったら	kurushikattara
Volitional	苦しかろう	くるしかろう	kurushikarō
Adverbial	苦しく	くるしく	kurushiku
Degree	苦しさ	くるしさ	kurushisa

References

Ineko Kondō, Fumi Takano, Mary E. Althaus, et al. (2002), Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, third edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “苦”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ Samuel E. Martin (1987), The Japanese Language Through Time, New Haven, London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 833

“苦しい”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

[NKDKurushi--1] 1.0 ^1.1 “苦”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[2] Samuel E. Martin (1987), The Japanese Language Through Time, New Haven, London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 833

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