みみしい

Japanese

Alternative spellings
聾 (rare) 耳癈 (rare)

Etymology

Compound of 耳 (mimi, “ear; sense of hearing”) +‎ 癈 (shii, “loss of faculty: numbness, blindness, deafness, etc.”, compounding element, originally the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of Old Japanese verb 癈ふ (shipu), modern 癈いる (shiiru, “to lose a sense: to go numb, blind, deaf, etc.”)).^[1]^[2]^[3]

First attested in the Shinsen Jikyō (898-901), with the spelling 耳志比. The Wamyō Ruijushō (c. 934) also records 美々之比.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [mʲimʲiɕiː]

(Kyoto) みみしい [mímíshíꜜì] (Kōki)^[1]

Historical evolution of the Kyoto pitch accent

(the Heian period) LLLL

※ H for high and flat syllables (◌́), L for low and flat syllables (◌̀), F for high-to-low syllables (◌̂), R for low-to-high syllables (◌̌).
※ References: ^[1]

Noun

みみしい • (mimishī) ^{←みみしひ (mimisifi)^?}

聾, 耳癈: [late 800s – ???] (archaic, possibly obsolete) deafness, deaf
Synonyms: (current) 聾 (rō), つんぼ (tsunbo, derogatory), 難聴 (nanchō)
聾, 耳癈: [late 800s – ???] (archaic, possibly obsolete) a deaf person
Synonyms: (current) 聾者 (rōsha), 強度難聴者 (kyōdo nanchōsha, literally “severely hearing-impaired person”)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 “みみ‐しい［‥しひ］【聾・耳癈】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ “しい［しひ］【癈】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[2] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ “癈いる”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[3] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months

[KDJ2O-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 “みみ‐しい［‥しひ］【聾・耳癈】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

[KDJ2O-shii-2] “しい［しひ］【癈】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[2] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

[DDJS-shii-3] “癈いる”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[3] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months

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