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Consider these:

  * ～か：

>   * 静か
>
>   * 愚か
>
>   * 厳か
>
>

  * ～やか:

>   * 穏やか
>
>   * 鮮やか
>
>   * 賑やか
>
>

  * ～らか:

>   * 柔らか
>
>   * 滑らか
>
>   * 明らか
>
>

There are many more that I've not listed.

The か/やか/らか at the end of these words seem to suggest that they stem from a
common grammar construct. What is it? And does it mean anything?
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2012-06-01T17:00:40.867
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2012-06-02T04:30:41.603
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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question
grammar etymology syntax na-adjectives
Unifying concept for noun-adjectives of the pattern Xかな
In short, -raka and -yaka are compound of -ra + -ka and -ya + -ka,
respectively. -ra, -ya, and -ka are all derivational suffixes that add a
stative sense.

-ya is rather rare. In the Old Japanese corpus, I can only find three words: nikoya, nagoya, and fuwaya. This suggests that suffix was of only limited productivity then and explains why it was soon supplemented by -ka resulting in -yaka.

-ra attaches to adjective stems, nominals, and sounds. Ex: akara, mahora, simira, utura. During Old Japanese, more productive than -ya, but that declined as time when on. This too was supplemented by -ka resulting in -raka.

-ka Derivatives are often adverbial or the stem of 形容動詞. Ex: isasaka, oroka, sayaka, sizuka, niwaka, honoka. This same -ka is often attached to -ya and -ra.

Also note that there are two other related suffixes: -sa and -ma.

-ma: Attaches to adjectival stems, nominals, the irrealis form of verbs, negative -zu etc. awazuma ni, kaerama ni, kotosima, sakasima, futuma ni, yokosima.

-sa: Attaches to adjectival stems creating nouns. Still productive. Rarely also attaches to nouns as well: tatasa, yokosa. Also joins with -ma to create -sama, which suggests an intriguing etymology for 様 (sama).
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2012-06-02T01:44:29.060
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2012-06-02T04:30:41.603
2012-06-02T04:30:41.603
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answer