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I tried to look for this answer but could not find it so...

Why is that 嫌い looks so much like an i-adjective? I might be wrong, but most i-adjectives seem follow this path:

Kanji + い or Kanji + しい

But still 嫌い is an na-adjective, following sentences like 嫌いじゃない instead of something like 嫌くない.

Is there a reason for that? Are there any other adjectives that function in a similar way to this one?

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    綺麗｛きれい｝is the same way. Could it be because ～い adjectives end with the い sound twice（楽しい、大きい）and ～な adjectives pick up the slack when there aren't two い sounds at the end of the adjective?
    – ajsmart
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 13:21
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    for me 綺麗 looks like a na-adjective since it is just kanji, and also some i-adjectives ain't got double i sound, like 苦い(nigai)
    – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 13:24
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    Yeah, you have a good point. Saying it's a descriptive noun doesn't do it for me either, so...
    – ajsmart
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 13:38
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    It's just a coincidence caused by the fact that 嫌う is a v5u (ワ行五段活用) verb and 好く is a v5k (カ行五段活用) verb.
    – naruto
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 22:02
  • @naruto I see, it is interesting though, i used to use kirai in hiragana only so i had never realized that before
    – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira
    Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 2:51

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きらい is the conjunctive form of きらう, whose conjugation goes きらわ(ず), きらい, きらう(し), きらう(こと), きらえ(ば), きらえ, きらおう (i.e. godan verb), and used as a noun here (practically, not substantial one but a stem of a na-adjective), which makes it fit with the grammar for na-adjectives.

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  • is there any difference from the kanji form and the hiragana one or not?
    – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 17:53
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    No, there is no difference.
    – user4092
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 21:01

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