寂しかない

[Lomaster]

There is a song 「案山子」 by Sada Masashi. When i first heard it i thought i must have had misheard 寂しくないか for 寂しかないか but when i checked the lyrics - it was 寂しかないindeed. Is this some sort of olden conjugation or something?

 

[Mike Cash]

Just a guess from the context of the lyrics, but it is probably a rural regionalism.

 

[Lomaster]

Makes sense. Probably that's what it is.

 

[Toritoribe]

～かない is a colloquial contraction of ～くはない, i.e., negative of i-adjectives or double negatives.
e.g.
寂しくはない --> 寂しかない
寒くはない --> 寒かない
できなくはない --> できなかない
わからなくはない --> わからなかない

 

[Lomaster]

Handy. I love contractions.

 

[Mike Cash]

Handy. I love contractions.

There should be a shorter way to say "contractions"....

 

[Julie.chan]

"Cont's"?

Wait... don't use that.