# 凄まじい
## Japanese

* Kanji in this term
* 凄
* すさ Grade: S
* kun'yomi

### Etymology

From Old Japanese. First cited in the Nihon Shoki of 720.
Derived from verb 荒む (susamu, “to grow wild, to fall into ruin, to go to waste; to lose force and cease (such as wind or rain); to become absorbed in doing something; to grow old and weak”), possibly from the causative form 荒ます (susamasu). May be cognate with the susa element in the name of the Shinto god, Susanoo-no-Mikoto.
The term initially evoked senses of desolate, depressing in reference to people or emotions, and desolate, wild, chilly in reference to natural phenomena. Usage then shifted to a focus on frightful, terrible, extreme during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (1100s–1500s).
The adjective appears initially without voicing on the last element, as susamashi in the terminal form. The voicing appears from roughly the Kamakura period (late 1100s–early 1300s), with both unvoiced susamashi and voiced susamaji appearing in free variation until the late 1500s.

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) すさまじい [sùsámájíꜜì] (Nakadaka – [4])
* IPA: [sɨsa̠ma̠ʑiː]

### Adjective

凄(すさ)まじい • (susamajii) -i (adverbial 凄(すさ)まじく (susamajiku))
* dreadful, threatening
* fierce, extreme, tremendous

#### Inflection

Stem forms :
| Imperfective (未然形) | 凄まじかろ | すさまじかろ | susamajikaro |
| Continuative (連用形) | 凄まじく | すさまじく | susamajiku |
| Terminal (終止形) | 凄まじい | すさまじい | susamajii |
| Attributive (連体形) | 凄まじい | すさまじい | susamajii |
| Hypothetical (仮定形) | 凄まじけれ | すさまじけれ | susamajikere |
| Imperative (命令形) | 凄まじかれ | すさまじかれ | susamajikare |
| Key constructions ||||
| Informal negative | 凄まじくない | すさまじくない | susamajiku nai |
| Informal past | 凄まじかった | すさまじかった | susamajikatta |
| Informal negative past | 凄まじくなかった | すさまじくなかった | susamajiku nakatta |
| Formal | 凄まじいです | すさまじいです | susamajii desu |
| Formal negative | 凄まじくないです | すさまじくないです | susamajiku nai desu |
| Formal past | 凄まじかったです | すさまじかったです | susamajikatta desu |
| Formal negative past | 凄まじくなかったです | すさまじくなかったです | susamajiku nakatta desu |
| Conjunctive | 凄まじくて | すさまじくて | susamajikute |
| Conditional | 凄まじければ | すさまじければ | susamajikereba |
| Provisional | 凄まじかったら | すさまじかったら | susamajikattara |
| Volitional | 凄まじかろう | すさまじかろう | susamajikarō |
| Adverbial | 凄まじく | すさまじく | susamajiku |
| Degree | 凄まじさ | すさまじさ | susamajisa |
Stem forms :
| Irrealis (未然形) | 凄まじく$^{[1]}$ 凄まじから$^{[2]}$ | すさまじく すさまじから | susamaziku susamazikara |
| Continuative (連用形) | 凄まじく$^{[1]}$ 凄まじかり$^{[2]}$ | すさまじく すさまじかり | susamaziku susamazikari |
| Terminal (終止形) | 凄まじ | すさまじ | susamazi |
| Attributive (連体形) | 凄まじき 凄まじかる | すさまじき すさまじかる | susamaziki susamazikaru |
| Realis (已然形) | 凄まじけれ | すさまじけれ | susamazikere |
| Imperative (命令形) | 凄まじかれ | すさまじかれ | susamazikare |
| Key constructions ||||
| Negative | 凄まじからず | すさまじからず | susamazikarazu |
| Contrasting conjunction | 凄まじけれど | すさまじけれど | susamazikeredo |
| Causal conjunction | 凄まじければ | すさまじければ | susamazikereba |
| Conditional conjunction | 凄まじくば | すさまじくば | susamazikuba |
| Past tense (firsthand knowledge) | 凄まじかりき | すさまじかりき | susamazikariki |
| Past tense (secondhand knowledge) | 凄まじかりけり | すさまじかりけり | susamazikarikeri |
| Adverbial | 凄まじく | すさまじく | susamaziku |
| $^{[1]}$Without auxiliary verb. $^{[2]}$With auxiliary verb. ||||

### References

* 1 2 3 4 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 3 4 5 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ 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