Can anyone explain 涼しげで?

Question

In reference to Japanese sweets (わらび餅), I found this sentence:

見た目も透明感があり、涼しげで夏にピッタリです。

Its clear and cool appearance makes it perfect for summer.

Is 涼しげで two words? 涼しい　＋　で？

Could I also write the sentence this way, or would it make it grammatically incorrect or change the meaning?

見た目も透明感があり、涼しくて夏にピッタリです。

You seem to have asked a similar question before – Flaw Jul 23 '12 at 03:19 — Flaw, Jul 23 '12 at 03:19

score 9 · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-23T06:53:33.523

9

げ can be attached to the stem of a selected set of subjective i-adjectives or nouns to turn them into a na-adjective meaning "seemingly ...". With adjectives that you cannot use this, you can use そう instead. With nouns, you cannot replace it with そう.

涼しそう涼しげ自慢自慢げ

Your rewrite will change the meaning.

This belongs to derivational morphology, and is not usually considered part of syntax.

edited Jul 23 '12 at 06:53

answered Jul 23 '12 at 02:05

Thank you, that is interesting. In my experience I hear 涼しそう more than 涼しげ . What is the tone of this conjugation? Is it stuffy or formal or archaic or colloquial in feel? – yadokari Jul 23 '12 at 02:09
I don't see the "seemingly" nuance in these examples- 涼しげな潮風 cool sea breeze 涼しげな音 refreshingly cool sound
(are they wrong?)
– yadokari Jul 23 '12 at 02:16
@yadokari They are wrong as translations. – Jul 23 '12 at 02:19
Also, 「げ」 in this usage is 「[気]{げ}」. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Jul 23 '12 at 02:33
@IgnacioVazquez-Abrams Yes. – Jul 23 '12 at 02:42

Can anyone explain 涼しげで?

1 Answers1