慈しむ

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
慈
いつく Grade: S
kun'yomi

Vowel shift from older utsukushimu,^[1]^[2]^[3] likely influenced by the pronunciation of now-archaic verb 斎く (itsuku, “to take care of; to value, to treat as important; to be affectionate towards”).^[2]

First attested in the late 1880s,^[1] but likely extant from the 1500s.^[2]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) いつくしむ [ìtsúkúshíꜜmù] (Nakadaka – [4])^[3]
IPA^(key): [it͡sɨkɯ̟ɕimɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 慈しむ

Plain	慈しむ	いつくしむ	`[ìtsúkúshíꜜmù]`
Conjunctive	慈しんで	いつくしんで	`[ìtsúkúshíꜜǹdè]`
Perfective	慈しんだ	いつくしんだ	`[ìtsúkúshíꜜǹdà]`
Negative	慈しまない	いつくしまない	`[ìtsúkúshímáꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	慈しまなかった	いつくしまなかった	`[ìtsúkúshímáꜜnàkàttà]`
Hypothetical conditional	慈しめば	いつくしめば	`[ìtsúkúshíꜜmèbà]`
Past conditional	慈しんだら	いつくしんだら	`[ìtsúkúshíꜜǹdàrà]`
Imperative	慈しめ	いつくしめ	`[ìtsúkúshíꜜmè]`
Volitional	慈しもう	いつくしもー	`[ìtsúkúshímóꜜò]`
Desiderative	慈しみたい	いつくしみたい	`[ìtsúkúshímítáꜜì]`
Formal	慈しみます	いつくしみます	`[ìtsúkúshímímáꜜsù]`
Formal negative	慈しみません	いつくしみません	`[ìtsúkúshímímáséꜜǹ]`
Formal volitional	慈しみましょう	いつくしみましょー	`[ìtsúkúshímímáshóꜜò]`
Formal perfective	慈しみました	いつくしみました	`[ìtsúkúshímímáꜜshìtà]`
Continuative	慈しみ慈しみに	いつくしみいつくしみに	`[ìtsúkúshíꜜmì]` `[ìtsúkúshíꜜmì nì]`
Negative continuative	慈しまず慈しまずに	いつくしまずいつくしまずに	`[ìtsúkúshímáꜜzù]` `[ìtsúkúshímáꜜzù nì]`
Passive	慈しまれる	いつくしまれる	`[ìtsúkúshímáréꜜrù]`
Causative	慈しませる慈します	いつくしませるいつくします	`[ìtsúkúshímáséꜜrù]` `[ìtsúkúshímáꜜsù]`
Potential	慈しめる	いつくしめる	`[ìtsúkúshíméꜜrù]`

Verb

慈(いつく)しむ • (itsukushimu) transitive godan (stem 慈(いつく)しみ (itsukushimi), past 慈(いつく)しんだ (itsukushinda))

[from late 1880s] to be affectionate towards, to regard with tenderness or pity, to cherish

Conjugation

Conjugation of "慈しむ" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	慈しま	いつくしま	itsukushima
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	慈しみ	いつくしみ	itsukushimi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	慈しむ	いつくしむ	itsukushimu
Rentaikei ("attributive")	慈しむ	いつくしむ	itsukushimu
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	慈しめ	いつくしめ	itsukushime
Meireikei ("imperative")	慈しめ	いつくしめ	itsukushime
Key constructions
Passive	慈しまれる	いつくしまれる	itsukushimareru
Causative	慈しませる慈します	いつくしませるいつくします	itsukushimaseru itsukushimasu
Potential	慈しめる	いつくしめる	itsukushimeru
Volitional	慈しもう	いつくしもう	itsukushimō
Negative	慈しまない	いつくしまない	itsukushimanai
Negative continuative	慈しまず	いつくしまず	itsukushimazu
Formal	慈しみます	いつくしみます	itsukushimimasu
Perfective	慈しんだ	いつくしんだ	itsukushinda
Conjunctive	慈しんで	いつくしんで	itsukushinde
Hypothetical conditional	慈しめば	いつくしめば	itsukushimeba

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
慈
うつく Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
愛しむ

Probably from Old Japanese. First attested in 984,^[1] and the regular verb derivation of Old Japanese adjective 美し (utukusi) + verb-forming suffix む (mu, “seems like, looks like; to make seem or look like; to treat as”). The root adjective is attested already from 720, in the sense of "lovable, precious", especially as one might feel towards a family member such as a child, spouse, or grandparent.^[4]

Appears to have been superseded by the itsukushimu reading,^[1]^[2]^[3] some time before the modern period, although the timing is unclear.

Further derivation is uncertain. Speculatively, considering the semantics, this may ultimately be cognate with now-archaic verb 斎く (itsuku, “to take care of; to value, to treat as important; to be affectionate towards”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɯ̟t͡sɨkɯ̟ɕimɯ̟]

Verb

慈(うつく)しむ • (utsukushimu) transitive godan (stem 慈(うつく)しみ (utsukushimi), past 慈(うつく)しんだ (utsukushinda))

[984–???] to be affectionate towards, to regard with tenderness or pity, to cherish

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "慈しむ" (マ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	慈しま	うつくま	utukuma
Continuative (連用形)	慈しみ	うつくみ	utukumi
Terminal (終止形)	慈しむ	うつくむ	utukumu
Attributive (連体形)	慈しむ	うつくむ	utukumu
Realis (已然形)	慈しめ	うつくめ	utukume
Imperative (命令形)	慈しめ	うつくめ	utukume
Key constructions
Negative	慈しまず	うつくまず	utukumazu
Contrasting conjunction	慈しめど	うつくめど	utukumedo
Causal conjunction	慈しめば	うつくめば	utukumeba
Conditional conjunction	慈しまば	うつくまば	utukumaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	慈しみき	うつくみき	utukumiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	慈しみけり	うつくみけり	utukumikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	慈しみつ	うつくみつ	utukumitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	慈しみぬ	うつくみぬ	utukuminu
Perfect-continuative tense	慈しめり慈しみたり	うつくめりうつくみたり	utukumeri utukumitari
Volitional	慈しまむ	うつくまむ	utukumamu

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 “慈しむ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 “慈しむ”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ “美しい”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[3] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

“慈しむ”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[4] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

[NKDc-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 “慈しむ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[DDJS-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 “慈しむ”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months

[DJR-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NKDc-utukusi-4] “美しい”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[3] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

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