短い

⟨mi₁zikasi⟩ → /mizikasi/ → /mid͡ʑikaɕi/ → /mid͡ʑikaki/ → /mid͡ʑikai/

From Old Japanese.^[1] Cited in the Man'yōshū, dated to roughly 759 CE.^[2]

Appears to be derived as a compound, but the constituent parts remain obscure. The stem form mijika is also found in compounds, and in the now-obsolete adjective forms 短やか (mijikayaka) and 短らか (mijikaraka), indicating that the ‑ka in mijika is not the adjectivizing suffix か (‑ka) (as in 静か shizuka), and is instead part of the root term.

• (Tokyo) みじかい [mìjíkáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [mʲiʑika̠i]

短(みじか)い • (mijikai) -i (adverbial 短(みじか)く (mijikaku))

1. short, brief

   Synonym: (Kagoshima) みひけ (mihike)

2. [from 759] short, brief (in time)
3. [from 974] short (in space, from one point to another)
4. [date uncertain] short, brief (in length, such as a text or speech)
5. [mid 900s–late 1500s] (archaic) short (in height)

   Mostly superseded in modern usage by 低い (hikui, “short”, in height).

6. [from 858] common, not part of the aristocracy
7. [from 905] short on intelligence or maturity: dimwitted, dull; shallow, superficial

   Synonyms: 鈍い (nibui, “dim, dull”), 浅薄 (senpaku, “shallow, superficial”)

8. [from early 900s] short of attention: fickle, shallow-hearted, flighty

   Synonyms: 薄情 (hakujō, “shallow-hearted, fickle, unfeeling”), 変わりやすい (kawariyasui, “fickle, changeable, unsettled”)

9. [from early 1600s] short-tempered, impatient, impetuous

   Synonyms: せっかち (sekkachi, “hasty, impetuous”), 短気 (tanki, “quick-tempered, impatient”)

• (antonym(s) of “short”): 長(なが)い (nagai): long

Shift from standard Japanese mijikai.

• IPA^(key): [mʲit͡ɕika̠i]

短(みちか)い • (michikai) -i (adverbial 短(みちか)く (michikaku))

1. (Ibaraki dialect) short, brief

• “短い”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

• Ibaraki dialect entry at Nihon Jiten (in Japanese)