3.11. Why are there so many adjectives ending in yaka?

The best guess of scholars is that there was a suffix "-ya" in the Nara era, meaning "softness", followed by a sufix "-ka", meaning "visible" "apparent", thus the original nuance of "xxxx-yaka" was "looks slightly xxxx".

This yaka was attached to nouns, adjective stems, onamatapoetic words, and other words that express a state (joutai), forming adjectives. It expresses the meaning "not [the thing] itself, but almost like it; not in that state, but almost so; it's just as if ..."

Anciently, it was used the same way as the suffix "raka", which has a similar meaning, but "yaka" became more common beginning in the Heian period. Also, "yaka" is seen more commonly than "raka" in more psychological, subjective words; it is considered to express somewhat of a distance from the object.

Yaka cannot be added to words to make a new word, as can be done with, for example, sou. The following table of some of the yaka words was extracted from Edict:

Japanese (roomaji)	Japanese (kanji/kana)	Meaning	Similar Japanese words
adeyaka	艶やか	bewitching, fascinatingly elegant
azayaka	鮮やか	vivid, clear, brilliant
hanayaka	花やか・華やか	gay, showy, brilliant, gorgeous, florid
hiyayaka	冷やか	cold, chilly, cool, indifferent, cold-hearted, surly, curt, composed
karoyaka	軽やか	light, easy, non-serious, minor
karuyaka	軽やか	light, easy, non-serious, minor
kirabiyaka	煌びやか・綺羅びやか	gorgeous, gaudy, dazzling, gay
komayaka	細やか	friendly
maroyaka	円やか	round, circular, spherical, mild (taste)
miyabiyaka	雅びやか	elegant, graceful
nagoyaka	和やか	mild, calm, gentle, quiet, harmonious
nigiyaka	賑やか	bustling, busy
nobiyaka	伸びやか	comfortable, carefree
odayaka	穏やか	calm, gentle, quiet
sasayaka	細やか	meagre, meager, modest
sawayaka	爽やか	fresh, refreshing, invigorating, clear, fluent, eloquent
shinayaka	嫋か	supple, flexible, elastic
shinobiyaka	忍びやか	stealthy, secret
shitoyaka	淑やか	graceful
sukoyaka	健やか	vigorous, healthy, sound
sumiyaka	速やか	speed
taoyaka	嫋やか	willowy, graceful
tsuyayaka	艶やか	glossy, beautiful
yuruyaka	緩やか	lenient	yurui, loose.

This material is used under the licence of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group of Monash University, Australia.

sci.lang.japan FAQ / 3. Word origins

If you have questions, corrections, or comments, please contact Ben Bullock or use the discussion forum / Privacy


Book reviews	Convert Japanese numbers	Handwritten kanji recognition	Stroke order diagrams	Convert Japanese units	Popup dictionary