辛うじて

Japanese

Kanji in this term
辛
かろ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Etymology

Shift from 辛くして (karaku shite, literally, “doing with difficulty”),^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] from 辛く (karaku, 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “adverbial form”) of adjective 辛い (karai)) +‎ して (shite, -te conjunctive form of verb する (suru)).

/karaku/ → /karau/ → /karoː/

辛く (karaku) shifted to かろう (karō) in a process called ウ音便 (u-onbin). Compare ありがとう (arigatō) from ありがたく (arigataku) and おはよう (ohayō) from おはやく (o-hayaku).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) かろーじて [kàróójíté] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[6]
(Tokyo) かろーじて [kàróꜜòjìtè] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]^[6]^[5]
(Tokyo) かろーじて [kàróójíꜜtè] (Nakadaka – [4])^[5]
(Tokyo) かろーじて [kàróójítéꜜ] (Odaka – [5])^[5]
IPA^(key): [ka̠ɾo̞ːʑite̞]

Adverb

辛(かろ)うじて • (karōjite) ^{←からうじて (karauzite)^?}

barely, narrowly, by a narrow margin, just enough

References

^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 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

[Kojien-1] Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DJS-3] Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[KDJ-4] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[SMK5-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-6] 6.0 ^6.1 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

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