Sunday 4 September 2016

etymology - What is the origin and usage of the word いい?


According to Denshi Jisho, いい and よい share the same kanji, and that both roughly mean "good". Why are there two different pronunciations despite the similarity, and what are some ways to figure out which one to use?



Answer




The original form is definitely よい, and that's what you'll find in old texts. As often happens with common words, the pronunciation was simplified a little in its most common form, the Rentaikei form (which is the dictionary form), and became ええ in western dialects (Kansai-ben) and いい in the Tokyo dialect, which serves the basis for Standard Japanese.


Today, いい is no longer considered colloquial, and it can easily be found in formal speech or writing, alongside 良い (よい). It is actually 良い which is now considered formal-only, and its effectively gone in everyday speech, and replaced entirely by いい in the Rentaikei, while all other forms are still conjugated as if the base form was よい.


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