15104
死に馬にむちを打つ - beat ［whip, flog］ a dead horse

After reading the sentence above, I was wondering when it's appropriate to use
死に to describe when something(or someone?) is dead instead of using 死んでいる or
死んだ.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-24T19:40:18.030
15029
2014-03-28T09:05:33.427
4693
question
usage
When is 死に used to describe something is dead instead of 死んでいる or 死んだ?
In this context, 死に【しに】 is acting as a prefix meaning "dead" or "death" (e.g.
死神【しにがみ】). Generally speaking, I would say that it is primarily used in set
phrases or words, whereas 死んだ can be used more broadly (c.f. 死んだ【しんだ】犬【いぬ】,
etc.). In any case, 死に or 死 (both read as しに in this case) should only be used
with 大和言葉 (kun-yomi). If it's being used as part of a compound with other
characters using 音読み【おんよみ】 then it should be read as し (e.g. 死体【したい】).

The exception to using 死んだ is with people. While 死んだ人 isn't entirely unheard
of (and is, in fact, grammatically accurate), it's typically considered too
callous for general use. 亡くなった【なくなった】 is more appropriate in this context.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-24T19:48:55.497
15031
2014-03-24T19:48:55.497
4914
15029
answer
[死]{し}に[馬]{うま} sounds archaic to me. I don't think you can use this 死に for
other animals (*死に猫, *死に犬, *死に牛...) at least in modern Japanese. I can only
think of [死]{し}に[人]{びと} (and maybe [死]{し}に[金]{がね}?). 死んだ人, [死人]{しにん},
[死者]{ししゃ} are more common.

死んだ/死んでいる馬に鞭を打つ is grammatically fine and makes perfect sense. Maybe 死に馬に鞭を打つ
sounds better as a proverb.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-28T08:57:22.233
15104
2014-03-28T09:05:33.427
2014-03-28T09:05:33.427
15029
answer