軽い

Japanese

Kanji in this term
軽
かる Grade: 3
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
輕い (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Old Japanese, in turn from Proto-Japonic *karu. In Old Japanese, seldom used outside of proper nouns, where in the Kojiki it is spelled as 加流 and in the Man'yōshū it is spelled as 軽, suggesting that this word was already used in Old Japanese with the meaning "light, lightweight". This might be weakly strengthened by a kana annotation of 軽 as karu(ku) in the Nihon Shoki.

It is generally believed that karu(si) was the older form; this is also supported by Ryukyuan cognates (see Proto-Ryukyuan *karu). In the Heian period and Kamakura period, the variant かろし (karoshi) → かろい (karoi) has started to be in use, while 軽し (karushi) → 軽い (karui) has still seldom usage.

Later, both karosi and karusi began to be used in parallel. Then, in Early Modern Japanese, karui slowly began to replace karoi.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かるい [kàrúí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ɾɯ̟ᵝi]

• Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "軽い"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形)	軽く	かるく	[kàrúkú]
Terminal (終止形)	軽い	かるい かる​い	[kàrúí] [kàrúꜜì]
Attributive (連体形)	軽い	かるい	[kàrúí]
Key constructions
Informal negative	軽くない	かるくな​い	[kàrúkúnáꜜì]
Informal past	軽かった	かる​かった	[kàrúꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past	軽くなかった	かるくな​かった	[kàrúkúnáꜜkàttà]
Formal	軽いです	かる​いです	[kàrúꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive	軽くて	かる​くて	[kàrúꜜkùtè]
Conditional	軽ければ	かる​ければ	[kàrúꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

軽(かる)い • (karui) -i (adverbial 軽(かる)く (karuku))

1. light, lightweight

   軽(かる)い荷(に)物(もつ)

   karui nimotsu

   light baggage

2. slight, light, mild

   軽(かる)い罰(ばつ)

   karui batsu

   a light punishment

   軽(かる)い肺炎(はいえん)

   karui haien

   mild pneumonia

3. easy

   軽(かる)い仕(し)事(ごと)

   karui shigoto

   an easy job

4. talkative

   彼女(かのじょ)は口(くち)の軽(かる)い女(おんな)だ。

   Kanojo wa kuchi no karui onna da.

   She is a talkative woman.

Inflection

Inflection of 軽い

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	軽かろ	かるかろ	karukaro
Continuative (連用形)	軽く	かるく	karuku
Terminal (終止形)	軽い	かるい	karui
Attributive (連体形)	軽い	かるい	karui
Hypothetical (仮定形)	軽けれ	かるけれ	karukere
Imperative (命令形)	軽かれ	かるかれ	karukare
Key constructions
Informal negative	軽くない	かるくない	karuku nai
Informal past	軽かった	かるかった	karukatta
Informal negative past	軽くなかった	かるくなかった	karuku nakatta
Formal	軽いです	かるいです	karui desu
Formal negative	軽くないです	かるくないです	karuku nai desu
Formal past	軽かったです	かるかったです	karukatta desu
Formal negative past	軽くなかったです	かるくなかったです	karuku nakatta desu
Conjunctive	軽くて	かるくて	karukute
Conditional	軽ければ	かるければ	karukereba
Provisional	軽かったら	かるかったら	karukattara
Volitional	軽かろう	かるかろう	karukarō
Adverbial	軽く	かるく	karuku
Degree	軽さ	かるさ	karusa

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "light"): 重(おも)い (omoi)