Is there a semantic difference between 恋しい and こいしい?


In the context of someone passing away, would あなたが **こいしい** です convey the same
meaning as あなたが **恋しい** です

Or does the use of Kanji over Hiragana imply something more?




> Or does the use of Kanji over Hirigana imply something more

First of all, do you know 恋しい is **normally written using kanji**? The kanji 恋
is not difficult. An online corpus
([BCCWJ](https://pj.ninjal.ac.jp/corpus_center/bccwj/en/)) has 140 examples of
恋しい and only 4 examples of こいしい. Among those 4 examples, one was used to show
the reading of 恋しい, and two were written by a nonnative speaker who did not
know many kanji.

Therefore, "the use of kanji" implies nothing. It's just the standard way for
a native speaker to write this word. If you are a beginner and did not know
this fact, you can stop reading this answer here.

* * *

That said, a few native speakers may intentionally choose to write this as
こいしい in this context. I can think of two reasons.

First, owing to the image of hiragana described in kandyman's answer, こいしい
looks more feminine or gentle than 恋しい. Although the difference is subtle, the
intentional use of こいしい here may make the sentence look less formal and a bit
more intimate/emotional.

Second, while it's perfectly fine to use the word 恋しい in this context, 恋 is
the kanji that primarily means "romance" or "(romantic) love". Some people may
want to avoid this connotation by removing the appearance of the kanij 恋. By
doing so, it may imply " _I'm not saying I was in love with you, but_ I miss
you anyway". (Again, even if you said 恋しい using kanji, no one would
misunderstand in this context. Don't take this as a rule or a widely-
recognized convention.) For similar examples, see: [Why did Asahi Shinbun
write "子{こ}ども" instead of "子供{こども}" in this
headline?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/13938/5010) and [Why is
hiragana used in the middle of this compound word? (障害者 vs
障がい者)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/24810/5010)

Related:

  * [Can I insert hiragana in words I only know partially how to write?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/19491/5010)




Strictly speaking, the answer to your question is that there is no semantic
difference in the specific case of こいしい and 恋しい. In theory, a word can be
understood when written in any Japanese script, even if it is not the most
commonly used or most familiar. It does not usually alter the semantic content
of the word as a lexical item, although it can.

That is not to say that there is no difference at all between scripts. Choice
of which script to use when writing a Japanese word can convey subtle nuances
or overtones. They don't usually change the overall meaning, but can add a
certain 'color' to the term, if I can use that analogy. The most well known
example of this is probably the word 'manga'.

> 漫画 マンガ まんが

It is often written in any of the three scripts and there is an ongoing debate
about what difference (if any) this might convey. The argument goes that when
written in kanji it has a more formal, 'adult' feel to it, whereas when
written in kana it might appeal more to children. In Japan children learn
Hiragana first, then Katakana, then kanji (although there may be some
overlap). Therefore children often read manga in kana only or with kana
attached as furigana. There is no real consensus on this issue and it has been
discussed in academic papers too. For example, Robertson (2015) listed the
following characteristics associated with the different scripts:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/4p6K2.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/4p6K2.jpg)

As mentioned, it is an ongoing debate. Most words tend to use only one of the
three scripts. Notable exceptions include onomatopoeic words, plants, animals,
etc, which are often written in either Hiragana or Katakana. But it's far more
common for a word to have only one standard script usage. However, since you
asked specifically about the semantic difference between こいしい and 恋しい, the
answer to your question is that they are essentially the same. Hope that
helps.

