Talk:思しい
Latest comment: 2 years ago by Eirikr in topic Vowel shift
Vowel shift[edit]
The expected form for -shii adjectives derived from verbs is -ashii, as we see with 思わしい (omowashii). It is yet unclear why this term manifests an apparent shift from /a/ to /o/.
There is an OJP-derived term 思ほす (omohosu) and its phonological development 思す (obosu), but the final -su in these is honorific, whereas verb-derived -shii adjectives appear to come from the causative form of the verb. Even so, honorific -su should also attach to the -a stem... Something is clearly going on here.
Curious if this is a manifestation of the theorized vowel pairing where /-a-/ stems indicate "external, apparent" and /-o-/ stems indicate "internal, intrinsic".