Are ～渋る and ～惜しむ any different as verbal suffixes?

Question

This postgrad research I found offers definitions of both verbal suffixes of 渋る and 惜しむ, which seem to both mean "to hesitate to do X" when attached the masu stem of a verb:

渋る

1. 動作主が～して対象を自らの外に出すことを躊躇し、出し惜しみすることを表す。
   例文：(10) 銀行が企業に金を貸し渋る。
2. 動作主が～するのを嫌がって躊躇し、なかなか出ようとしないことを表す。
   例文：(11) 子供が学校に行き渋る。

惜しむ

1. 動作主が自分の身から対象が出て行くのを嫌がることを表す。
   例文：(10) 彼は寄付金を出し惜しむ。

The paper also compared different verbs these two suffixes attach to measuring hits from https://www.goo.ne.jp/ to see the relative frequency and kind of verb the two suffixes attached to.

The paper makes note that in the case of 惜しむ, there were way fewer hits outside of when its attached to 売る, 使う, and 出す (and 負ける for a separate meaning) compared to 渋る (even though theoretically they are similar enough to be used interchangeably).

The paper also suggests that a major difference is that 渋る focuses more on the unfavourability of giving money, using efforts, etc 「出の悪さ」and that 惜しむ focuses more on the wastefulness of using money/efforts 「もったいない」.

My issue is as follows: is there really a difference here?

I mean, the reason one would usually hesitate to lend money to someone else is well, because it would be a waste of money, which is unfavorable? This seems like a distinction without a difference.

So, outside of how it seems 渋る is more common to be attached to more verbs, looking at the tables in the paper I see no real patterns for the kinds of verbs each respective suffix tends to attach to, suggesting that this theoretical difference does not actually have a meaningful impact on how these verbs are used.

Is there any real differences between these verbal suffixes? When I want to say "I am hesitating going to school/buying that car/using our food supplies" with one of these suffixes (not ためらう or 躊躇する), is there any reason you'd use one over the other?

Answer 1

I feel 渋る is more about externally showing one's hesitation or reluctance, while 惜しむ is more about internally having a feeling of "I miss it".

• Since they refer to different aspects, you can use both verbs and say お金が惜しくて出すのを渋っている naturally.
• お金を出し渋るな means you should appear to be generous when spending money even if you love money, while お金を出し惜しむな means you should be genuinely generous, i.e., you shouldn't have the feeling of "I miss the money" in the first place.
• 貸し惜しむ sounds like a strange combination to me. I think this is because when someone is reluctant to lend money, it's because they are worrying that the money may not be returned, not because they're feeling "I miss the money". Likewise, 渋る is usually preferred in dry business-related contexts.
• You can use 渋る with various actions in the form ～するのを渋る. 子供が学校に行き惜しむ is incorrect because nothing is "missed" in the first place.

Answer 2

渋る literally means "feel the bitter taste" and has the nuance the person dislikes the action and is to some degree resisting. 惜しむ means the person doesn't want to bear the cost of something (similar to もったいない).

Therefore, you can say 暑さで渋る馬をなんとか厩舎から出す (take the horse out from the barn, which was resisting this due to the heat), but you can't say 暑さで惜しむ馬をなんとか厩舎から出す because the horse isn't losing something by coming out (it just dislikes it).

The "cost" does not have to be material. For example, a common expression is 別れを惜しむ (mourn the parting), which means you mourn the fact you have to part ways, but importantly there is no nuance that you are resisting (you are accepting that the parting has to happen). If you say 別れを渋る, then it means you are resisting the parting because you dislike it.

So 惜しまれながら引退 makes sense but not 渋られながら引退 and so on.