“slightly/somewhat” の 「～[目]{め}」: Usage and limitations

Question

I'm somewhat confused about the usage and limitations of the　～め　suffix that means "somewhat/slightly". I've only ever heard it on a handful of words:

• 大きめ
• 小さ目
• 多め
• 少な目
• 早め

and maybe a few others that I can't recall at present.

1) Can these be used with any イ-adjectives, or only certain ones?
2) Can they be used with ナ-adjectives at all? Can't say I've ever seen one.
3) What are the limitations of its usage? For the イ-adjectives, is ～めに interchangeable with ～く for forming the adverb?
4) などなど

Answer 1

1. Yes. There seems to be no limitation on the combination of i-adjectives and 目.
2. Yes. For example, 静かめの曲

3. It is not interchangable. As you already wrote in the question, 目 weakens the attribute expressed by the adjective. Therefore, the adverbial usage ...目に will in general be a weakening of the adverbial usage of ...く.

   • 早く走った 'ran early'
   • 早めに走った 'ran somewhat early'

4. ???