Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
さ / み

さ / み

さ / み Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Suffix

Essential Meaning: -ness / -ty

Construction: 

  • (い-Adjective / な-Adjective) Stem + さ
    • E.g. 高たかさ [Height]
    • E.g. 静しずかさ [Quietness]
  • い-Adjective Stem + み
    • E.g. 痛いたみ [Painfulness]

Notes:

  • さ is used to nominalize adjectives. For example, the adjective 黒くろい = black, while 黒くろさ = blackness, which can be used as a noun. Other examples include: 新あたらしさ [Newness]、速はやさ [Speed]、長ながさ [Length]、白しろさ [Whiteness]、大おおきさ [Size]、強つよさ [Strength]、and よさ [Goodness]. Notice that よい is used rather than いい to create the noun form よさ.
  • な-Adjectives are seldom used with さ, but some idiomatic examples include 便利べんりさ [Convenient-ness]、忠実ちゅうじつさ [Faithfulness]、のどかさ [Tranquilness]、正確せいかくさ [Correctness]、完璧かんぺきさ [Perfection] and にぎやかさ [Liveliness]
  • When a Japanese adjective has an adjectival antonym (e.g. big vs small, easy vs difficult, deep vs shallow), the positive counterpart tends to acquire the meaning of absolute degree (e.g. 大おおきさ means “size” and not just “bigness”; 重おもさ means “weight” and not just “heaviness”). Other examples include:
    • E.g. 厚あつさ [Breadth] vs 薄うすさ [Thinness]
    • E.g. 重おもさ [Weight] vs 軽かるさ [Lightness]
    • E.g. 難むずかしさ [Difficulty] vs やさしさ [Easiness]
    • E.g. うれしさ [Joy] vs 悲かなしさ [Sadness]
    • E.g. 深ふかさ [Depth] vs 浅あささ [Shallowness]
    • E.g. 高たかさ [Height] vs 低ひくさ [Lowness]
    • E.g. 暑あつさ [Heat] vs 寒さむさ [Coldness]
    • E.g. 濃こさ [Density] vs 薄うすさ [Thinness]
    • E.g. 大おおきさ [Size] vs 小ちいささ [Smallness]
    • E.g. 広ひろさ [Size of space] vs 狭せまさ [Smallness of space]
    • E.g. 強つよさ [Strength] vs 弱よわさ [Weakness]
  • み is another suffix that is used to nominalize adjectives. み is used in directly perceptual situations (whereas さ is more analytical and is used to measure some quality). In other words, さ indicates a degree or amount, and み indicates a state of being that is not objectively measurable. In Japanese, nasal sounds (e.g. み, む, et cetera) tend to be associated with concreteness and human perception.
    • E.g. 厚あつみのあるカーペット [Carpet that has a feeling of depth] み indicates a general subjective feeling of depth that is not objectively measurable.
    • E.g カーペットの厚あつさは３センチです。[The thickness of the carpet is 3 cm.] さ indicates a specific measurement of the carpet’s depth.
    • E.g. あの人ひとは面白おもしろみがないね。[That person doesn’t have a sense of interestingness.]
    • E.g. *あの人ひとは面白おもしろさがないね。[That person doesn’t have a measure of interestingness.] This sentence is strange because “interestingness” is not a measurable quantity. It does not fit with さ.
    • E.g. 楽たのしみにしています。[I’m looking forward to it.]
    • E.g. *楽たのしさにしています。[I’m looking forward to it.] This sentence is strange because “fun-ness” or “pleasure” is not an objectively measurable quantity. It does not fit with さ.
  • み is used only with a limited number of い-Adjectives. They tend to be adjectives of perception:
    • い-Adjectives of pain / pleasure:
      • E.g. 痛いたみ [Painfulness]
      • E.g. 苦くるしみ [Painfulness]
      • E.g. 悲かなしみ [Sadness]
      • E.g. 楽たのしみ [Pleasure]
    • い-Adjective of flavor:
      • E.g. 旨うまみ [Deliciousness / Savoriness]
      • E.g. 辛からみ [Spiciness]
      • E.g. 甘あまみ [Sweetness]
    • Other い-Adjectives
      • E.g. 赤あかみ [Reddishness]
      • E.g. 暖あたたかみ [Warmness]
      • E.g. 厚あつみ [Thickness]
      • E.g. 深ふかみ [Depth]
      • E.g. 弱よわみ [Weakness]
      • E.g. 強つよみ [Strength]

Example Sentences:

このうちの広ひろさはちょうどいい。[The size of this house is just right.]

富士山ふじさんの高たかさはどのぐらいですか。[What this the approximate height of Mt. Fuji?]

日本語にほんごの難むずかしさがよくわかりました。[I keenly understood the difficulty of Japanese.]

アメリカのよさはパイオニアスピリットでしょう。[Perhaps one of America’s good qualities is its pioneering spirit.]

WILD Examples:

At 0:43, listen for this line: あまりの弱よわさ…ショッキング! [The excess in weakness. It’s shocking!] さ implies that weakness is a measurable quantity, and Koiking has a high measure of weakness.
At 2:05, listen for this line: 悲かなしみは星ほしの影かげに, 悲かなしみは月つきの影かげに [Sadness lies in the shadow of the stars, sadness lies in the shadow of the moon]
The first line of this song is: かぜの強つよさがちょっと心こころを揺ゆさぶりすぎて [The strength of the wind is rattling my heart a little too much]

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