いい
See also: Appendix:Variations of "ii"
Japanese
Alternative forms
Etymology 1
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 良い 善い 好い 美い |
⟨yo2si⟩ → */jəsi/ → /joɕi/ → /joki/ → */joɣi/ → /joi/ → */jiː/ → /iː/
Ultimately a shift from 良い (yoi), classical 良し (yoshi).
Pronunciation
- Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of いい
| Plain | いい | いい | [íꜜì] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conjunctive | よくて | よくて | [yóꜜkùtè] |
| Continuative | よく | よく | [yóꜜkù] |
| Negative | よくない | よくない | [yóꜜkù nàì] |
| Past | よかった | よかった | [yóꜜkàttà] |
| Negative past | よくなかった | よくなかった | [yóꜜkù nàkàttà] |
| Conditional | よければ | よければ | [yóꜜkèrèbà] |
| Terminal | いい | いい | [íꜜì] |
| Formal | いいです | いいです | [íꜜì dèsù] |
Adjective
いい • (ii) -i (adverbial よく (yoku))
- (colloquial, informal) good
- (colloquial, predicative only) enough, not wanted any more
- (ても~, て~) Indicates permission; can, may
- (with verbs or adjectives in conditional/provisional) Indicates necessity or obligation; should do…, must do…
Usage notes
- Most often written in this form. The kanji spelling 良い is generally reserved for more formal writing.
- This form does not inflect — it is only used in the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of ii. All other grammatical forms are based on 良い (yoi). Compare the 連用形 (ren’yōkei, “continuative or adverbial form”) yoku or the 過去形 (kakokei, “past tense”) yokatta; there is no *iku or *ikatta form.
- In ironic usages denoting “very bad” or “embarrassing”, this form is preferred to the yoi form.
Inflection
| Stem forms | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperfective (未然形) | よかろ | yokaro | |
| Continuative (連用形) | よく | yoku | |
| Terminal (終止形) | いい | ii | |
| Attributive (連体形) | いい | ii | |
| Hypothetical (仮定形) | よけれ | yokere | |
| Imperative (命令形) | よかれ | yokare | |
| Key constructions | |||
| Informal negative | よくない | yoku nai | |
| Informal past | よかった | yokatta | |
| Informal negative past | よくなかった | yoku nakatta | |
| Formal | いいです | ii desu | |
| Formal negative | よくないです | yoku nai desu | |
| Formal past | よかったです | yokatta desu | |
| Formal negative past | よくなかったです | yoku nakatta desu | |
| Conjunctive | よくて | yokute | |
| Conditional | よければ | yokereba | |
| Provisional | よかったら | yokattara | |
| Volitional | よかろう | yokarō | |
| Adverbial | よく | yoku | |
| Degree | よさ | yosa | |
Derived terms
- 頭がいい (atama ga ii)
Etymology 2
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 言い 謂い 云い (literary) 曰い 道い |
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ii]
Verb
いい • (ii)
- stem or continuative form of いう (iu) [godan]
Etymology 3
| For pronunciation and definitions of いい – see the following entries. | ||
| ||
| ||
| (This term, いい (ii), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as いい, see Category:Japanese kanji read as いい. |
References
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN