91369
I have come across 多き being used in combinations such as 恵み多き宝 or 恵み多き地. I
believe the correct reading is おおき. However, I was not able to find an
explanation to the differences, e.g. to 多{おお}い.

  1. Does 多{おお}き work like an い-adjective? Meaning that it could be used also at the end of a sentence?
  2. Does the meaning of 多{おお}き carry a different nuance than 多{おお}い? If yes, which one(s)?
  3. Is 多{おお}き rather archaic?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-27T13:19:45.037
91367
2021-11-27T20:09:57.023
2021-11-27T17:10:08.053
30454
18895
question
grammar meaning etymology pronunciation
Meaning, origin and "type" of 多き
### What is 多【おお】き?

In brief, this is the Classical Japanese attributive form of modern 多【おお】い.
The attributive form or 連体形【れんたいけい】 is the specific conjugation form used when
an adjective or verb is used to modify a noun or noun phrase.

### Deeper dive: What is this _-ki_ ending?

All modern _-i_ adjectives have the same _-i_ ending for both the 終止形【しゅうしけい】
("terminal / conclusive form", the form used to end a sentence) and the
連体形【れんたいけい】 ("attributive form", the form used to modify a noun or noun
phrase).

Examples:

  * 車【くるま】が小【ちい】さい -- terminal
  * 小【ちい】さい車【くるま】 -- attributive
  * 車【くるま】が新【あたら】しい -- terminal
  * 新【あたら】しい車【くるま】 -- attributive

In Classical Japanese and older stages of the language, the terminal and
attributive forms were different: the terminal ended in ～し, and the
attributive ended in ～き.

As an extra wrinkle, adjectives with modern endings of just ～い (so-called
ク活用【かつよう】形容詞【けいようし】, or " _-ku_ conjugation adjectives", named for the
distinct adverbial ending, the same for both modern and Classical) conjugated
slightly differently from adjectives with modern endings of ～しい (so-called
シク活用【かつよう】形容詞【けいようし】, or " _-shiku_ conjugation adjectives"). The key
difference is that the terminal for _-ku_ adjectives replaces the ～き with ～し,
while the terminal for _-shiku_ adjectives just drops the ～き (so you don't
have doubled ～しし).

Examples:

  * 車【くるま】が小【ちい】さし -- terminal
  * 小【ちい】さき車【くるま】 -- attributive
  * 車【くるま】が新【あたら】し -- terminal
  * 新【あたら】しき車【くるま】 -- attributive
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-27T20:09:57.023
91369
2021-11-27T20:09:57.023
5229
91367
answer