34613
Saw this on the first page of きつねのはなし by 森見登美彦, searched online but only saw
this book as reference. Wondering how exactly would you read it...Thanks a
lot.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-03T03:14:15.940
34603
2016-06-08T10:21:03.997
14555
question
pronunciation
how to pronounce 常暗い?
Though 薄暗い is an everyday word and 常闇 is an established word, there is no word
that reads 常暗い, at least as a common word in Japanese language. Neither 広辞苑
nor 大辞林 at hand carries 常暗 as a noun as well as 常暗い as an adjective.

If you found it, it must be a coinage of the author or weird resurrection of a
long-ago dead word at best.

In my lifespun of 83 years living in Japan, I've never heard that word. I'm
sure of that nobody would blame you and me for not knowing how to read it,
what it means, and whether it really exists as a lgitimate word on the earth.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-03T07:31:45.440
34612
2016-06-03T09:05:10.390
2016-06-03T09:05:10.390
12056
12056
34603
answer
広辞苑 states:

> 「つね【常】①かわらないこと。永久不変。（ **副詞的にも用いる** ）」

So I would read it as 「つね くらい ちくりんが あり・・・」
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-03T08:17:36.287
34613
2016-06-03T08:17:36.287
9831
34603
answer
常暗い【つね くらい】 means "always dark"
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-03T10:04:51.273
34619
2016-06-03T10:04:51.273
14646
34603
answer
I have never seen this word and it seems to be an occasional or creative word
usage by the writer. I'd read とこぐらい or とこくらい that would mean "ever-shady".

>
> **[とこ](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/158494/meaning/m0u/%E3%81%A8%E3%81%93/)【常】**
>
> ［語素］名詞・形容詞などに付いて、いつも変わらない、永久不変の、などの意を表す。「―夏」「―世」「―めずらし」  
>  _(morpheme) mainly attached to nouns or adjectives to indicate "unchanging"
> or "permanent"._

For reference, the 新潮文庫 edition of きつねのはなし doesn't have furigana on this word,
which suggests it neither has peculiar reading nor is compound ateji. Most
probably is either of ジョウ, つね, とこ listed in
[常用漢字表](http://kokugo.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/joho/kijun/naikaku/pdf/joyokanjihyo_20101130.pdf).
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-08T10:21:03.997
35765
2016-06-08T10:21:03.997
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
7810
34603
answer