Hey grammar folks! So 珍 (rare) is a noun but also a na-adjective while 珍しい is an i-adjective. If we are using an adjective to describe something “rare” when do we use the na-adjective? When do we use the i-adjective? I have a vague recollection that na-adjectives are for actions. Is this the case here? What about in general, when some kanji has an i-adjective and a na-adjective version with similar meanings?
I am not aware of any such general rules…
For instance with the i-adjective 速い if you were to talk about a person you’d say they they’re 速い（あの人は速いね）, but you could also say their running was 速い（あの人は走るのが速いね）.
And if you were describing the verb to run, you’d use the corresponding adverb 速く（あの人は速く走っているね）…
Am I missing something here?
EDIT: I don’t know about 珍, but the first such word I come to think of is 上手い / 上手. Maybe it’s a bad example since neither reading is onyomi, but here I’m pretty sure the い-adjective is just much more male/informal, you can still describe the same things with them.
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I don’t know about 形容詞 versus 形容動詞, but one pattern I’ve seen noted in a couple sources including A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar is that 形容詞 ending in ～しい tend to refer more to the speaker’s subjective emotional states. An early example in WK is 苦い (a chemically bitter taste) versus 苦しい (a bitter or painful experience).
So if I had to guess without looking into either word more deeply, I’d imagine that you’d call something 珍な if it wasn’t very common in an objectively statistical sense, whereas you’d call something 珍しい if it felt unusual or novel to you.
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