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p1atdev

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japanese-stackexchange

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[ { "body": "In written Japanese the abbreviations mm, kg, km, mg, cm, ml etc. are used as\nearly as the second year of primary school. Their correct pronunciation is\nミリメートル, キログラム, キロメートル, ミリグラム, センチメートル, ミリリットル respectively. In everyday\nlanguage, mm and ml are abbreviated to ミリ (although ミリグラム seems to stay as is;\nsee comments below), kg, km are abbreviated to キロ and cm to センチ.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-23T13:39:26.520", "id": "6574", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-23T23:06:25.370", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-23T23:06:25.370", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6571", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "There is no semantic difference. The pronunciation varies with local dialects,\nand with the level of politeness.\n\nAs for politeness, [sei] is a pronunciation sometimes used by people to\nemphasise formality (e.g. in conjunction with 敬語), but this is nowhere near a\nnecessity. I would say that [see] is the common pronunciation. Try sticking in\nan almost silent [i] when you are almost stopping your voice at the end of a\nlong [see] and you'll sound practically native ;)\n\nEDIT: In response to some of the comments, a related phenomenon is the\n(slight) pronunciation of the otherwise silent [u], like in です [desu] (rather\nthan the usual [des]) in formal situations (e.g. in conjunction with the use\nof 敬語).", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-23T13:30:54.550", "id": "6573", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-24T02:59:59.313", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-24T02:59:59.313", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6572", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "The せい of 先生 is a good example of 長音{ちょうおん} (a long vowel). While it is\nwritten as せい , in reality it is pronounced as セー with a エー sound (not a エイ\nsound).\n\nOther examples include:\n\n```\n\n Kanji hiragana prononciation\n ----- -------- -------------\n 映画　 えいが エーガ\n 英語　 えいご　 エーゴ\n 時計　 とけい　 トケー\n 丁寧　 ていねい テーネー\n \n```\n\nAnother example of a 長音 that is pronounced differently to the way it is\nwritten is the う in お父{とう}さん which is pronounced オトーサン with an オー sound\ninstead of a オウ.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-23T13:42:41.640", "id": "6575", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-23T15:06:47.207", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-23T15:06:47.207", "last_editor_user_id": "1608", "owner_user_id": "1608", "parent_id": "6572", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "**Short answer:** The allowed pronunciations depends somewhat on the word\norigin.\n\n * For Sino-Japanese words (漢語), such as 英語<えいご> or 先生<せんせい>, the underlying vowel sequence is always ええ, but can be pronounced as either えい or ええ (despite its native orthography being <えい>).\n * Most Yamato (和語) words are the same as the Sino-Japanese words, but in some cases the えい pronunciation has been discarded leaving only ええ as the correct pronunciation. For example, the Yamato お姉さん<おねえさん> has underlying ええ and its only acceptable pronunciation is ええ (and not えい). I'm not sure how many of the Yamato words have the singular pronunciation ええ (anyone know?).\n\nWhen a word affords both ええ and えい pronunciations, えい is more formal.\n\n \n**Long answer:** The pronunciation of both vowel segments [ei] and [eː] begin\nwith [e]. The difference between the two is that [ei] has a pronunciation that\nshifts from the starting [e] quality to a final [i] quality whereas [eː]\nretains the [e] quality throughout its entire articulation. Vowel segments\nthat shift in quality mid-articulation but are still treated as one single\nvowel by natives are called diphthongs (jp 二重母音). When you encounter a segment\nlike [ei] in the speech stream of any language you have to ask whether it is a\ndiphthong (a single vowel whose ending quality differs from its starting\nquality) or if it is a succession of two distinct vowels (jp 連母音).\n\nJapanese phonologists stipulate a 3way classification of possible vowel\nsequences:\n\n 1. Intrinsically long vowels such as こう (as in こうする), transcribed phonetically as [koː]. Here there is no change in vowel quality during articulation. Long vowels like this one are phonemically transcribed as /VR/ where V is any of the five vowels and /R/ is a special 'vowel lengthening' phoneme which is a segment whose only purpose is to extend the articulatory duration of the preceding vowel (while preserving vowel quality). So, こう is phonetically [koː] and phonemically /koR/.\n 2. A succession of two identical vowels, called a double vowel, such as こお, which has two possible phonetic transcriptions [koː] or [koʔo] where [ʔ] represents a light glottal stop or pause, called \"vowel rearticulation\" which represents as a \"brief dip in intensity\" ([The Sounds of Japanese (Vance, 2008)](http://www.amazon.ca/Sounds-Japanese-Audio-CD/dp/0521617545/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1345743926&sr=8-2)) of the speech signal The first phonetic transcription then is the same as that for intrinsically long vowels, namely [Vː] and the second transcription represents an alternative pronunciation. That is, in the case of two identical vowels, a speaker may articulate a [ʔ] between the two, in which case the speaker is said to rearticulate the final vowel. To demonstrate vowel rearticulation for yourself, pronounce the words 「塩.を」/ɕio.o/ and pay attention to what you do at the '.' marker. Considering that vowel rearticulation is optional I should mention that the speech style for which [ʔ] is most frequent is that of careful pronunciation (no contractions, weak forms, or other verbal shortcuts)\n 3. A succession of two distinct singular vowels /V1V2/ where V1,V2 ∊ {a, e, i, o, u} and V1≠V2. All possible 52 \\- 5 permutations (/iu, ie, io, ia, ui, ue, uo, ua, ei, eu, eo, ea, oi, ou, oe, oa, ai, au, ae, ao/) are found in the Japanese lexicon. Each singular vowel in /V1V2/ is distinctly articulated in normal speech. However, /V1V2/ sequences are not distributed uniformly across the lexical strata (和語、漢語、外来語、擬声語・擬態語、外国語). For example, the strata of native words [+Yamato] (和語) and Sino-Japanese words [+SinoJap] (漢語) are observably limited to only 10 permutations (/ai, oi, ui, ie, ae, oe, ue, io, ao, uo/ excluding /ei/) when you consider /V1V2/ sequences contained within a morpheme. This stringent restriction on morpheme-internal vowel sequences might not be believable when considering [+Yamato] words like 払う where /V1V2/ = /au/. But, the morphemic composition in this case is actually 払う = 払 + う, meaning the /au/ sequence is interrupted by a morpheme boundary. The 10-permutation constraint (/ai, oi, ui, ie, ae, oe, ue, io, ao, uo/) only applies to morpheme-internal /V1V2/. However, The 外国語 strata, being the least restrictive, contains all 20 permutations. \n \nThe question of whether vowel sequences in this class are true diphthongs as\nopposed to two successive vowels depends on whether or not the vowel sequence,\nsay /ai/, resides within a word as in(敗者 = [hai]+[ɕa]), or if the sequence\nspans a word boundary as in(歯医者 = [ha]+[i]+[ɕa]). Labrune ([The Phonology of\nJapanese, 2012](http://www.amazon.ca/Phonology-Japanese-Laurence-\nLabrune/dp/0199545839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345749542&sr=8-1)) mentions that\nseveral leading phonologists in Japan agree that vowel sequences /Vi/\n(including /ei/) within a single morpheme must be diphthongs, for example /ai/\nin 貝 /kai/, soley because they are contained within a single morpheme.\n\nThe intrinsically long vowels, /VR/, and the corresponding identical vowel\nsequences, /VV/, are the same phonetically, [V:], it is only theorized that\nthe underlying phonemic forms are different.The unit of prosody in Japanese is\nthe mora, and these 3 vowel sequence classes have the following mora types:\n\n 1. Intrinsically Long Vowels /VR/ : 2 mora\n 2. Two Identical Vowels /VV/ : 2 mora\n 3. Two Distinct Vowles /V1V2/ : 2 mora\n\nIn other words, the 3 types of vowel sequences have equal prosodic weight,\nnamely 2 mora.\n\nThese are the 3 classes of vowel sequences, but there is still the\ncomplication of word boundaries that must be accounted for. For example, the\nwords 歯医者 and 敗者 both phonetically [haiɕa] but the constituent morphemes\ndiffer: 歯医者 = [ha]+[i]+[ɕa] whereas 敗者 = [hai]+[ɕa]. So you can see that with\n歯医者 there is a morpheme boundary breaking the /ai/ sequence. Or in other\nwords, we have a /V1V2/ sequence, but it is not contained within a single\nmorpheme. There is more to say about this, but since your question is about\nvowel sequences within morphemes, I'll stick to that, just note that in the\ngeneral case, you have to consider the possibility of morpheme boundaries\nbreaking vowel sequences in the speech stream.\n\nIt is an etymological artefact that Yamato words (the native stratum of the\nlexicon) such as エイ <えい> 'stingray', 鰈<かれい>, and 姪<めい>, contain only the\nintrinsically long vowel /eR/ and never the sequence /ei/ at the phonemic\nlevel (as listed above the 10 possible disctinct vowel sequences for the\nYamato words include only /ai, oi, ui, ie, ae, oe, ue, io, ao, uo/ but not\n/ei/ ). All the other strata, however, tolerate /ei/ vowel sequences. It may\nbe worth it to reiterate this kind of unexpected last point: even though\nphonetic forms for Yamato words can in general be [eː] or [ei], the underlying\nphonemic representation is always /eR/, the long vowel and not /ei/. /ei/ is\nabsent from the Yamato words. For most Yamato words then, /eR/ can then\nrealize as either [ei] or [eː], but for a small subset this is not true and\nonly [eː] is acceptable. For example, the Yamato word お姉さん /oneRsaN/ with\nnecessarily underlying intrinsic long vowel /eR/ is always pronunced as\n[oneːsaɴ] with the long [eː], and never with [ei].\n\nThe kana orthography does not in general consistently represent /eR/ between\nthe Yamato and Sino-Japanese words. For example, for Yamato お姉さん with\ntranscription <ねえ> the pronunciation matches the kana, but for Sino-Japanese\n先生 there are two pronunciations [eː] and [ei] with only one kana form <せんせい>.\nAlso like the Sino-Japanese 先生, the Yamato word 姪 has kana <めい> but either\npronunciation [eː] or [ei].\n\nThe difference, as pointed out by user1205935, is that [ei] is more frequently\nobserved than [eː] in formal conservative registers, in addition to one form\nor the other being more prominent in certain dialects ([ei] is more comman\nthan [eː] in Tokyo Japanese but such relative frequencies do not hold for some\ndialects in the Kyushyu area.)", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-23T20:24:49.973", "id": "6578", "last_activity_date": "2012-10-12T21:20:05.887", "last_edit_date": "2012-10-12T21:20:05.887", "last_editor_user_id": "29", "owner_user_id": "1454", "parent_id": "6572", "post_type": "answer", "score": 29 } ]

[ { "body": "It does not seem to me that you have any trouble translating the sentence in\nquestion, but here is my translation.\n\n> やってみよう:ブラウンコーパスのニュースとロマンスの 2\n> つのジャンルのデータを利用して、どの曜日がもっとも新聞っぽく、どの曜日がもっともロマンチックかを調べてみよう。\n>\n> Try this: Using the data of the genres News and Romance in the Brown Corpus,\n> find out which day of the week is the most newspaper-ish and which day is\n> the most romantic.\n\nI think that you are wondering whether there is more meaning in 新聞っぽい than\njust “newspaper-ish.” No, it is just a made-up phrase and it does not have any\nhidden meaning.\n\nI do not think that it is logical to call the day of the week whose name\nappears the most frequently in a corpus based on news articles as “the most\nnewspaper-ish day of the week,” but I would assume that the author is joking\nhere.", "comment_count": 6, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-23T18:25:04.143", "id": "6577", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-23T18:25:04.143", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6576", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "Better title? I guess \"Kun'yomi spanning multiple morphemes (which each have\nkanji of their own)\" might be more precise, but better... not sure.\n\nLots of verbs too.\n\n> 顧みる/省みる vs 返り見る \n> 試みる vs 心見る \n> 陥る/陥れる vs 落ち入る/落とし入れる \n> 弄ぶ vs 持て遊ぶ \n> 承る vs 受け賜わる \n>\n\nThere are cases where the etymology is unclear, or at least not obvious, too.\nI'm sure 翻す and 覆す are _something_ +返す, but I don't know the etymology of ひる\nand くつ in these combinations.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-24T00:07:17.567", "id": "6582", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-24T00:07:17.567", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "6581", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "A few years ago I began to create a list. It is incomplete, but you can build\nfrom here.\n\n * 湖 → 水海【みずうみ】\n * 京 → 宮処【みやこ】\n * 暁【あかとき】 → 明時\n * 曙 → 明け仄\n * 喉 → 飲門【のみと】\n * 銅 → 赤金【あかがね】\n * 胡床 → 足座【あぐら】\n * 羹 → 熱物【あつもの】\n * 鐙 → 足踏み【あぶみ】\n * 雷【いかずち】 → 厳【いか】つ霊【ち】\n * 泉 → 出【い】づ水【み】\n * 営む → 暇無【いとな】む\n * 猪【いのしし】 → 猪【い】の獣【しし】, 猪【い】の肉【しし】\n * 妹 → 妹【いも】人【うと】 (common _hito_ shift)\n * 甍 → 苛処【いらか】\n * 驢 → 兎馬【うさぎうま】\n * 鬣【うながみ】 → 項【うな】髪【がみ】\n * 頷く → 項【うな】突【づ】く\n * 厩 → 馬屋【うまや】 (Shōgakukan lists both spellings for this reading)\n * 狼 → 大神【おおかみ】\n * 概 → 大旨【おおむね】\n * 公 → 大宅【おおやけ】\n * 幼い → 長【おさ】無【な】い\n * 一昨日【おとつい】 → 遠【おと】つ日【ひ】\n * 弟【おとうと】 → 弟【おと】人【うと】\n * 男 → 復【お】と子【こ】 (cf. 復つ)\n * 乙女 → 復【お】と女【め】\n * 俤 → 面影【おもかげ】\n * 赴く → 面向【おもむ】く\n * 大蛇【おろち】 → 峰ろ霊\n * 蚕【かいこ】 → 飼い蚕【こ】\n * 象る → 形【かた】取【ど】る\n * 刀 → 片刃【かたな】\n * 傾く → 片向【かたむ】く\n * 鹿【かのしし】 → 鹿【か】の獣【しし】, 鹿【か】の肉【しし】\n * 雷【かみなり】 → 神鳴【かみな】り\n * 頑張る → 我【が】に張【は】る (might also be from 眼張る)\n * 厠 → 川屋【かわや】\n * 碓 → 唐臼【からうす】\n * 犂 → 唐鋤【からすき】\n * 餉 → 乾【かれ】飯【いい】\n * 築【きず】く → 城【き】築【つ】く\n * 牙【きば】 → 牙【き】歯【ば】\n * 轡 → 口輪【くつわ】\n * 果物【くだもの】 → 木だ物 (cf. _kedamono_ )\n * 獣【けだもの】 → 毛だ物 (cf. _kudamono_ )\n * 獣 → 毛物【けもの】\n * 鉄 → 黒金【くろがね】\n * 餔【けこと】 → 食【け】事\n * 志 → 心指【こころざ】し\n * 試みる → 心見【こころみ】る\n * 梢 → 木【こ】末【ずえ】\n * 遮る【さえぎる】 < さいぎる < 先【さき】切【き】る\n * 杯【さかずき】 → 酒【さか】杯【ずき】 < 酒【さか】杯【づき】\n * 魚 → 酒菜【さかな】\n * 遡る → 逆【さか】上【のぼ】る\n * 幸せ → 仕合【しあわ】せ\n * 僕【しもべ】 → 下【しも】部【べ】\n * 銀 → 白金【しろがね】\n * 黄昏 → 誰【た】そ彼【がれ】\n * 戦う → 叩【たた】かう\n * 相撲 → 争ふ【すまふ】\n * 躓く → 爪【つま】突【づ】く\n * 忽ち → 立【た】ち待【ま】ち\n * 岐 → 道【ち】股【また】\n * 鋼 → 刃金【はがね】\n * 東【ひがし】 < ひんがし < ひむかし < 日向風【ひむかし】\n * 聖 → 日知【ひじ】り\n * 彦 → 日子【ひこ】\n * 姫 → 日[女]【め】\n * 炎 → 火【ほ】の穂【ほ】\n * 鶏 → 庭鳥【にわとり】\n * 前 → 目【ま】方【え】 < 目【ま】方【へ】\n * 真 → 真言【まこと】 or 真事【まこと】\n * 瞬く → 目【ま】叩【たた】く\n * 睫 → 目【ま】つ毛【げ】\n * 瞼 → 目【ま】蓋【ぶた】\n * 眶 → 目【ま】縁【ぶち】\n * 蝮 → 真【ま】虫【むし】\n * 峰【みね】 → 御[峰]【ね】\n * 娶る → 女【め】取【と】る\n * 社【やしろ】 → 屋代\n * 盥【たらい】 → 手洗い\n * 慮る → 思【おもい】計【はか】る\n * 巫 → 御子【みこ】\n * 黿【あおうみがめ】 → 青【あお】海【うみ】亀【がめ】\n * 嫁 → [(呼・弱・良・夜)]【よ】女【め】\n * 焔 → 火【ほ】群【むら】\n * 叢 → 草【くさ】群【むら】\n * 則る → 乗【の】っ取【と】る\n * 蝙蝠【こうもり】 → 皮張り\n * 扉【とびら】 → 戸片\n * 啄木鳥【きつつき】→木突き\n * 寿司 → 酸し\n * 袂【たもと】 → 手元\n * 戦【いくさ】 → 射【いく】矢【さ】 < 射【いく】う矢 (= 矢を射る)\n * 七夕【たなばた】 → 棚機 (< 棚機つ女) or 種播 (< 種播祭り)\n * 素人 → 白人\n * 玄人 → 黒人\n * 簪【かんざし】 → 髪挿し\n * 瞳【ひとみ】 → 人見\n * 政【まつりごと】 → 祭り事\n * 袖【そで】 → 衣手\n * 眼【まなこ】 → 目な子 (< 目の子)\n * 裸【はだか】 → 肌赤\n * 礎【いしずえ】 → 石据え\n * 如月【きさらぎ】 → [着更着・生更木・気更来]\n * 暦【こよみ】 → 日読み\n * 経【たていと】 → 縦糸\n * 緯【よこいと】 → 横糸\n * 舷【ふなばた】 → 船端\n * 緒【いとぐち】 → 糸口\n * 軛【くびき】 → 首木\n * 謀【はかりごと】 → 計り事\n * 彩【いろど】る → 色取る\n * 幹【みき】 → 身木\n * 鍋【なべ】 → 肴瓮 (= 肴【な】を煮る瓮【へ】)\n * 蝕【むしば】む → 蟲食む\n * 兆【きざし】 → 気差し\n * 掌【てのひら】 → 手の平\n * 掌【たなごころ】 → 手な心 (< 手の心)\n * 辛【かのと】 → 金の弟\n * 庚【かのえ】 → 金の兄\n * 乙【きのと】 → 木の弟\n * 甲【きなえ】 → 木の兄\n * 己【つちのと】 → 己の弟\n * 戊【つちのえ】 → 土の兄\n * 癸【みずのと】 → 水の弟\n * 壬【みずのえ】 → 水の兄\n * 丁【ひのと】 → 火の弟\n * 丙【ひのえ】 → 火の兄\n * 艮【うしとら】 → 牛虎\n * 巽【たつみ】 → 龍巳\n * 坤【ひつじさる】 → 羊猿\n * 乾【いぬい】 → 犬猪\n * 命【いのち】 → 息の霊\n * 蛟【みずち】 → 水づ霊 (< 水つ霊)\n * 海神【わたつみ】 → 海つ霊\n * 山祗【やまつみ】 → 山つ霊\n * 帝【みかど】 → 御門\n * 芳【かんば】しい → 香【か】精【んば】しい (< かぐわしい < かくわしい)\n * 英【はなぶさ】 → 花房\n * 宮【みや】 → 御屋\n * 窓 → [目門・間戸]\n * 李【すもも】 → 酸桃\n * 古【いにしえ】 → 往にし方\n * 侍【さむらい】 → 候い (< さぶらふ)\n * 時雨【しぐれ】 → 過【し】ぐれ (< すぐる)\n * 筆【ふで】 → 文手 (< ふみて)\n * 再び → 二度\n * 恣【ほしいまま】 → 欲しい儘\n * 潔い → 甚【いさ】清【ぎよ】い (< 甚【いた】清【きよ】い)\n * 嘯【うそぶ】く → 嘘吹く\n * 壽【ことぶき】 → 言【こと】祝【ぶ】く (ことほく)\n * 階【きざはし】 → 刻[橋＝階]\n * 導く → 道引く\n * 醜い → 見憎い\n * 宣【のたま】う → 宣【の】賜【たま】う (< のりたまう)\n * 自【みずか】ら → 身【み】ず故【から】 (< みつから)\n * 橘【たちばな】 → 立ち花\n * 鋸【のこぎり】 → 刃【の】歯【こ】切【ぎ】り (< のほぎり < なはぎり)\n * 奉【たてまつ】る → 立て祭る\n * 麓【ふもと】 → 踏本 (spelling found in 万葉集)\n * 邪【よこしま】 → 横しま (接尾の「さ」と接尾の「ま」)\n * 省みる → 帰【かえ】り見【み】る\n * 昂【たか】ぶる → 高振る\n * 砦【とりで】 → 取り出\n * 頗【すこぶ】る → 少振る\n * 簾【すだれ】 → 簀垂れ\n * 碑【いしぶみ】 → 石文\n * 蔑【さげす】む → 下げ墨む (< 下げ墨【すみ】)\n * 滞【とどこおる】る → 留【とど】凍【こお】る\n * 擲【なげう】つ → 投げ打つ\n * 惨【みじ】め → 見じ目\n * 悉【ことごと】く → 事事く\n * 巫・覡【かんなぎ】 → 神【かん】和【な】ぎ (< かむなぎ)\n * 雛【ひよこ】 → ひよ子 (= ヒヨヒヨと鳴く[鳥の]子)\n * 断【ことわ】る → 言【こと】割【わ】る\n * 蘇【よみがえ】る → 黄泉【よみ】帰【がえ】る", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-24T00:35:16.693", "id": "6583", "last_activity_date": "2021-05-08T12:13:42.270", "last_edit_date": "2021-05-08T12:13:42.270", "last_editor_user_id": "40856", "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6581", "post_type": "answer", "score": 40 }, { "body": "I found these two lists, which I'd like to share:\n\n[単純語のようになっているが元々は複合語だった単語](https://jbbs.shitaraba.net/bbs/read.cgi/study/10958/1299762655/)\n\nand\n\n[複合語起源で、複数の形態素に分けられると考えられる例\n](https://academy6.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/gengo/1228873581/)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T23:47:12.323", "id": "6632", "last_activity_date": "2022-07-31T23:22:06.227", "last_edit_date": "2022-07-31T23:22:06.227", "last_editor_user_id": "30454", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "6581", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "Although the 12-hour clock system (12時間制) is much more common in general, the\n24-hour system (24時間制) is used in some contexts. Probably the most notable is\ntrain timetables.\n\n25:00 is 午前1時 of the next day. But in some cases, the speaker wants to treat\nit as part of the day before. I do not think that there is a standard way to\ndescribe it, but I have seen both 25:00 and 深夜1時 for this purpose.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-24T12:43:16.013", "id": "6585", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-24T12:43:16.013", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6584", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "From my personal experience, I find that people say the hour based on the 12\nhour clock without the 午後 or 午前, and if the listener is not sure they will ask\n夜？朝？ If they want to be specific they will say 朝７時 or 夜7時.\n\nI also find that the 24 hour clock is only used in writing and not in\nspeaking. So, they do write it down one way and say it another. Even writing\ndiffers based on who is doing it. I think private individuals would write\n午後7時, but organizations and companies would write 19:00.\n\nTo answer your last question, I think people would say 朝１時. I often hear this\nwhen people are asking what time an event will go to.\n\nI hope that answers your questions.\n\nI am a big fan of the 24 hour clock, but because both are used here, I make\nmistakes related to time. For example when I see 15:00, I will accidentally\nsay 5:00 or some other kind of mistake.\n\n(This is my first post, so forgive me if I am answering in an incorrect way.)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-24T16:37:52.437", "id": "6586", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-24T16:37:52.437", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1394", "parent_id": "6584", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "I have two phrases with this word:\n\n> ノリが悪い人| someone who never joins in\n>\n> この曲はノリがいい| this song has a good beat\n\nThey come from 総まとめ 語彙 N2.\n\nAs for origin, I think it might come from expressions close to: 相談に乗る or\nリズムに乗って踊る (dance to the music)* which have been adopted in similar fashion to\narrive at ウケがいい：\n\n> 若者に受ける映画｜that movie that is very popular among young people =>\n>\n> ギャグがウケなかった｜the joke did not go down very well =>\n>\n> ウケがいい｜very popular\n\n(From: 総まとめ 語彙 N1)\n\nBut somebody else may have a more firm insight\n\nNote_ ** ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___**\n\n*Similar expressions I find easy to remember are:\n\n> 調子に乗っていると 失敗するよ｜You'll fail if you get carried away too much\n>\n> 経済が回復軌道に乗る| \"The economy will gets back on recovery track\" (lit: back into\n> orbit)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-25T02:58:33.443", "id": "6589", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-25T07:26:29.363", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-25T07:26:29.363", "last_editor_user_id": "1556", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6587", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "And don't forget the very useful ノリノリ, which basically means ノリが良い. I was at a\nclub once and one of my American friends named Thomas ran out and started\ndancing like crazy. My Japanese friend turned to me and said, トマス、ノリノリだね。", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-25T19:25:14.577", "id": "6597", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-25T19:31:26.407", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-25T19:31:26.407", "last_editor_user_id": "1648", "owner_user_id": "1648", "parent_id": "6587", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "始まる is an intransitive verb. Hence, it does not have a direct object, ex\n\"Something starts \".\n\n始める is a transitive verb. Hence, it has a direct object, ex \"Someone starts\nsomething\".\n\n開始 is a noun. You can make it into a verb by adding suru.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-25T11:55:01.527", "id": "6591", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-25T11:55:01.527", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6590", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "This is an extension of Dono's response.\n\n開始 contains two kanji, 開く meaning to open and 始まる／める which we know from Dono\nmeans begin. Not surprisingly, 開始 can take on either single character in\ncertain circumstances. To demonstrate this I have posted some examples of how\n開始 gets used as a verb with する from the Apple dictionary below. In general\ncompound verbs like this get used in more formal/written Japanese.\n\nNote: I agree with Taylor's comment, fair question but if this is the first\ntime you have come across this kind of thing then I should take this as one\nexample and get ready for lots more cases like this or other variations.\n\n* * *\n\nかいし【開始】:(an) opening; a beginning; commencement\n\n開始する｜begin; start; ｟文語｠ commence\n\n> この支店は4月10日から業務を開始する｜This branch (office) will [open for / start] business on\n> April 10.\n>\n> 試合開始のサイレンが鳴った｜A siren sounded to announce the beginning of the game.\n>\n> 攻撃を開始する｜launch [open] an attack ｟on the enemy｠\n>\n> 委員会はその件の調査を開始した｜The committee opened [launched] an investigation of the\n> matter.\n>\n> いよいよ行動開始の時だ｜Now we must go into action.\n>\n> 昨日両都市間のバス運行が開始された｜Bus service between the two cities was inaugurated\n> yesterday.\n>\n> 日本とアメリカは明日交渉を開始する｜Japan and the U.S. open [enter into] negotiations\n> tomorrow.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-25T14:54:28.227", "id": "6595", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-26T02:56:27.453", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6590", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I did not know the word, but according to web search, I think that 気結び is an\nAikido (合気道) terminology to describe the feeling of unity with the teacher,\nother students, and dojo itself. 気 ( _ki_ in Aikido) is a word used in Aikido\nwhich means something like “spirit.” 結び is the noun form of 結ぶ, which is a\nverb in daily use and means “to tie together.”", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-25T12:48:36.553", "id": "6593", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-25T16:56:47.187", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-25T16:56:47.187", "last_editor_user_id": "15", "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6592", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "I'd agree with SomethingJapanese and his/her translation, with one small edit,\n(\"If you're serious (about that/whatever), then broadcast it **over regular\nterrestrial broadcast** ; give me back my fees.\") in the comments above.\n\nThey are two different clauses. You can imagine an English sentence that takes\nadvantage of a comma splice to create the same effect: \"If you're a real\ncandidate, drop the birther issue, focus on the real issues.\"\n\nAnd I think Japanese is a lot more tolerant of comma misuse. Also, this is\nfrom an Internet comment, which is far more casual than other writing.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-25T19:41:34.410", "id": "6598", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-25T19:41:34.410", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1648", "parent_id": "6594", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "It's not an instance of the listing に.\n\nHere に indicates that (と)行き違い describes the manner in which お支払い(済み) was done.\n\n> Please forgive us in the case that payment has been completed \"in crossing\"\n> with this letter. (=while the letter was still on its way... I'm not sure\n> you can use this form for this in English, I might just have made \"in\n> crossing\" up)\n\nI think it's the same as this に, despite お支払い済み appearing not to be a verb...\n\n> And ringing the bell in passing, he led the way into the adjoining room. \n> そして通りすがりに鐘をならしつつ、かれは隣室へと一同を先導した。", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-25T19:59:30.953", "id": "6599", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-28T17:43:23.217", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-28T17:43:23.217", "last_editor_user_id": "315", "owner_user_id": "315", "parent_id": "6596", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Problem: if you're already saying `N1にN2` \"usually\" implies the omission of a\nverb, then doesn't that mean this case you're trying to apply that logic to\nmay not fit that case? So...maybe _don't_ try to apply that logic to those\nsentences.\n\nYour textbook seems to be describing this use of に as listing items that go\ntogether.\n\nThe same way the classic American breakfast, \"bacon and eggs\", is a set, so is\n\"rice and miso shiru\", and in Japanese, using に to list them instead of と\nspecifically implies that they \"go together\" (a la \"bacon and eggs\").\nLikewise, \"a t-shirt and jeans\" is a fairly common set.\n\nSo yes, when に is used for listing, you can basically just substitute と for に,\nbut you're also losing a bit of nuance if you think they're exactly the same.\n\nEdit:\n\nThe huge difference between `パンにバター(をぬる)` and `N1にN2 (=組み合わせ)` is that, in the\nformer, パン and バター have different roles, as the indirect object and the direct\nobject respectively; in the latter, both N1 and N2 have the same role (the\nobject, in your sample 2; I'm not sure what you call whatever comes before a\ncopula).\n\nTo think of it another way, in your sample sentences, you can substitute a\nphrase like \"these things\" for `N1にN2` and the sentence remains basically\nequivalent. But since パン and バター are playing different roles, you can't\nsubstitute a single phrase for パンにバター and get an equivalent sentence.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-26T12:00:25.100", "id": "6603", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-26T14:50:05.343", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-26T14:50:05.343", "last_editor_user_id": "1365", "owner_user_id": "1365", "parent_id": "6600", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "The stackexchange network is designed for a very fairly specific question and\nanswer format. Questions that don't have an authoritative or demonstrable\nanswer aren't a good fit for sites like JLU. Because of this, I expect this\nquestion will be closed and/or moved to meta as soon as a moderator sees it.\n\nYou might be interested in looking at our [resources\nlist](https://japanese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/756/resources-for-\nlearning-japanese), a number of us have put this list together to share\nresources that we have found useful while studying Japanese.\n\nIn addition, I'd encourage you to drop by the\n[chatroom](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/511/japanese-language-and-\nusage), since we don't require the same focus there. (The chatroom is also\nconsidered to be the 'help area' for the resources list)", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-26T07:29:12.727", "id": "6602", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-26T07:29:12.727", "last_edit_date": "2017-03-16T15:48:25.793", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "29", "parent_id": "6601", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "There's an interesting article about it\n[here](http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/language/yakyu.html), starting with a\ndiscussion of the words 投手 (pitcher) and 打者 (batter).\n\nFrom the writers perspective, 手 indicates someone employed for some concrete\nability, whereas 者 can refer to a particular role or standpoint, often\ntemporary (although in some cases it means 求道者).\n\nSo because the 'batter' isn't a fixed role (you have the same pitcher but a\nseries of batters), 打手 wouldn't make sense.\n\nSimilarly, 運転手 is a person who makes their living from driving, 運転者 is the\ndriver at a certain time.\n\nFor the other suffixes: 家 often means 専門家 (a specialist in something). It does\nseem to often be used for artistic occupations, as Chocolate said. 作家 is\nsomeone who writes books for a living. 著者 is the author of a particular book.\n\n士, when it isn't used for military occupations (戦士) usually indicates some\nsort of official certification. By comparison, 師 is a master of something\nwithout relation to qualifications. However, some jobs where official\ncertification is usually held use 師 instead of 士, e.g. 看護師. This comes from\nreplacing two terms (using 婦/士 for female/male) with a single gender-neutral\nform.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T12:12:56.447", "id": "6620", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-28T12:12:56.447", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "571", "parent_id": "6605", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "Based on the comments I am going to try to answer own question but should\nstill be grateful for any additional input. (The sentence came from 総まとめ N2 読解\np110 if anybody is interested.)\n\n>\n> 障子では、一箇所破れたと言っても全部取り替えるようなことはしない。そればかりか、破れた枡の１５センチ角ぐらいの紙全体を切り取ってそこに新しい紙をはるというようなことさえ、始めはしない。まずは、破れたところを元に戻し、[破れ目に、色紙を紅葉の葉にかたどってはるというようなことをする。]\n>\n> In the case of Shoji, if one part is torn you would never replace the whole\n> thing. In fact, in the first instance you would not even replace the paper\n> of the torn 15cm square panel. First you restore the damaged area by pasting\n> something like a coloured piece of paper in the shape of an autumn leaf over\n> the torn hole....\n\n_**Explanation_** :\n\n**1\\. The sentence has the structure S1ばかりかS2 where S1 and s2 are both\nnegative:**\n\n> CではAことはしない。そればかりかBことさえ、始めはしない。\n>\n> In the case of C, you would never do A. Not only that but you would not even\n> do B in the earlier stages (of C)\n\n * B being a lesser activity/action than A. \n * Also note that when S1&S2 are both negative ばかりか can be replaced by どころか.\n\n**2\\. Some understanding of context and maintenance of Shoji helps:**\n\nThe sentence comes from an essay on how it is easier to replace modern\nmachines in the entirety when one part breaks down. The writer draws a\ncontrast with the maintenance of Shoji, which often come with panels (or\npanes?). A small tear is patched over with a pretty piece of paper, which from\nthe writer's perspective, makes the Shoji even prettier. Eventually as the\nnumber of tears grows and the Shoji gets shabbier a whole sheet or perhaps\nevent the Shoji would be replaced. (See links in Chocolate's comments for more\nbackground)\n\nI think (!) 枡の１５センチ角 refers to a 15 cm square pane on the shoji. (枡 being used\nfor the square boxes in which sake is served or the box seats around the Sumo\ndojo. 角 is square)\n\n_References: (1) Dict of Intermed. Jse Grammar p11, (2) Comments above_", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-29T05:55:44.103", "id": "6634", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-29T12:05:36.700", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-29T12:05:36.700", "last_editor_user_id": "1556", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6607", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Xyl~ is the same as Xyl in Xylophone (coming from 'wood' in Greek). How it is\npronounced varies between languages. You can see this by the explanation on\nthe Japanese wiki article for\n[Xylophone](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AD%E3%83%95%E3%82%A9%E3%83%B3),\nwhich shows the different pronunciations in katakana:\n\nJapanese: シロフォン\n\nEnglish: ザイロフォウン\n\nGerman: クシュロフォーン\n\nFrench: グジロフォヌ\n\nItalian: クシロフォノ、シロフォノ\n\nIn German the IPA for Xylitol is\n[ksyliˈtoːl](http://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Xylitol), so キシリトール is likely to\nhave come directly from German. Two groups, one French and one German,\ndiscovered Xylitol nearly simultaneously, so it makes sense for German to be\nthe source language in this case.", "comment_count": 10, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-27T15:11:31.233", "id": "6610", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-27T15:11:31.233", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "571", "parent_id": "6608", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "It comes from the Greek word **xylon** , which means wood. The Greek word\nxylon is pronounced \" **ksilon** \", so the Japanese transcription is faithful\nto the original Greek pronunciation, rather than the English corruption of the\nword.\n\nSee the answer to [this\nquestion](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/19493/why-is-x-used-\nwhen-we-pronounce-it-z) for the reason why \"x\" is pronounced \"z\" at the\nbeginning of English words.\n\nAs for the origin of the word, the Greek word xylon means wood. The -itol\nsuffix is added to denote that it is a sugar alcohol. It is produced from\nxylose, which was first isolated from wood (such as birch).", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-27T15:12:05.800", "id": "6611", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T18:27:51.517", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:38:10.367", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1575", "parent_id": "6608", "post_type": "answer", "score": 15 }, { "body": "I'd agree that it probably came from the German pronunciation, as they have\ntaken a few loanwords from the German language, such as \"doitsu-go\" (I don't\nremember the romaji for it) which is \"German\" which comes from the German word\n\"Deutsch\" for the language. Or \"arubaito\" which comes from \"albeit\" or hobby\nor something. Its been about 6yrs since I studied Japanese, so apologies if\nI'm wrong or haven't used correct romaji.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-09-13T22:06:25.357", "id": "12819", "last_activity_date": "2013-10-04T22:46:54.263", "last_edit_date": "2013-10-04T22:46:54.263", "last_editor_user_id": "1575", "owner_user_id": "3948", "parent_id": "6608", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "Context is important. With passive verbs you should look for a に before the\nverb that will mark the person or thing that performs the verb. This is not\nthe same as the subject of the verb.\n\nFor example, if you see the short phrase: お兄さんに食べられた。 You can figure out\npretty quickly from the に that this is not the potential. The subject of the\nsentence is an invisible first person pronoun (pick your poison: 私, 僕, 俺). The\nobject is also invisible - let's make it an おにぎり. So the actual sentence looks\nlike this （私が）お兄さんに（おにぎりを）食べられた。In other words: I suffered my older brother\neating an onigiri. The に marks the person who performs the actual action, the\nが marks the subject who suffers, and the を marks the object. Put that into\nnormal English and you get: My brother ate my damn onigiri.\n\nI wrote a basic introduction to the passive form here:\n<http://howtojaponese.com/2008/02/04/embracing-japanese-expression-get-used-\nto-it-2/>\n\nAnd then expanded on it in a Japan Times article which I link to here:\n<http://howtojaponese.com/2011/04/27/cool-passive-phrase-yarareta/>\n\nAnd never forget that there's no such thing as passive \"tense.\" That's what I\nused to call it until someone pointed out that tense always means time-\nrelated...past, present, future.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-27T16:09:06.290", "id": "6613", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-27T16:09:06.290", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1648", "parent_id": "6609", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "Yes, ditto what How to Japanese said, context is king.\n\n * お兄さん **に** 食べられる \n[something] is eaten **by** elder brother\n\n * お兄さん **が** 食べられる \nelder brother is eaten [by something] \nOR elder brother _can eat_ [something]\n\nAnd, as Jeemusu notes, -られる is often turned into -れる in speech and more casual\nwriting, precisely to help clarify this difference.\n\nAbout tense, @How to Japanese, some folks even take the angle that Japanese\ndoesn't have tense, strictly speaking -- what Japanese uses is something\ncalled \"aspect\", regarding whether the verb action is complete or not within\nthe timeframe of the utterance, which is why it's possible to say things like\n明日あれを **した** 後で [tomorrow, after I **did** that] or 昨日 **起きる** ところで\n[yesterday, just before I **wake** up]. It's a subtle distinction, but aspect\nhas more to do with when an action happens _within the flow of the context_ ,\nwhereas tense has more to do with when an action happens _in relation to now_.\nMore at <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_aspect> and\n<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_tense>.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-05-12T18:40:14.347", "id": "15901", "last_activity_date": "2014-05-12T18:40:14.347", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "6609", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "If you heard it from someone other than your sister, そうです is appropriate. If\nyou heard it from your sister directly, you would say:\n\n> 姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したがっているそうです。\n\nor alternatively,\n\n> 姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したいと言っています。\n\nIf it's just a guess or a perception, you would say:\n\n> 姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したいと思います。(I think my sister wants to study abroad). \n> 姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したそうです。(It seems my sister wants to study abroad).", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-27T19:33:44.743", "id": "6615", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-27T19:33:44.743", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1575", "parent_id": "6614", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "The two sentences mean different things.\n\n～したがる means that the subject expresses the desire to do the mentioned action.\n(The means of expression does not have to be explicit; for example, if it is\napparent that your sister wants to study abroad from her behavior, you can say\n姉は海外留学したがっている even if she does not say so explicitly.)\n\nIf you say\n\n> 姉は海外留学したいそうです。 I heard that my sister wants to study abroad.\n\nit means that you heard (probably from your sister herself) that your sister\nwants to study abroad.\n\nIf you say\n\n> 姉は海外留学したがっているそうです。 I heard that my sister expressed her desire to study\n> abroad.\n\nit cannot be your sister from whom you heard it, because if so, it should be\n姉は海外留学したいそうです instead of 姉は海外留学したがっているそうです.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-27T21:10:27.617", "id": "6616", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-27T21:10:27.617", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6614", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "`まま` has no different meaning here.\n\nIt just means, (courtesy of dainichi)\n\n> I believe, I simply followed his advice, just like I was told.\n\n`従う` is intransitive and `彼` is its indirect object. `わたし` is the person who\nwas told something and (without back-talking) follow `彼`.\n\nIt is unclear, however, whether `わたし` was told by `彼`, or was told by a third\nperson.\n\nCf.\n\n> わたしはお母さんに言われるままに、山本先生に従ってきたつもりだ。\n\nI believe I did just follow the advice from Prof. Yamamoto, like my mother\ntold me to.\n\nThe translation of つもり is courtesy of dainichi. Maybe the different meanings\nof つもり deserve a separate question, though.\n\nHere `言われる` can have both the meaning of someone telling `わたし` again and\nagain, or just once, but the latter could more precisely put by choosing\n`言われた`.\n\nAnyway, the point is that `まま` has the meaning you know already; your sentence\nanalysis is a bit off, though, maybe that is where you got confused.", "comment_count": 6, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T03:51:53.523", "id": "6618", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-28T07:06:26.717", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-28T07:06:26.717", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6617", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "The sentence should be parsed like this:\n\n> わたしは[言われるままに 、彼に従ってきた]つもりだ \n> I believe that I have been obeying him, just like _somebody_ has been\n> telling me to.\n\nは is the topic marker, here used after わたし, the subject of つもりだ, i.e. the one\nwho believes. に is the dative marker used after the indirect object of 従う,\ni.e. 彼.\n\nまま here expresses the viewpoint that _I_ have been following _him_ **just\nlike** _I_ was told, i.e. without objections.\n\nNote that つもり here doesn't mean \"intend\". つもりだ is in present tense, while\n従ってきた is in past tense. You cannot have an intention now about something in\nthe past. Used in this way, it can be translated as \"believe\". Or another way\nof translating the sentence might be\n\n> From my viewpoint, I've been obeying him, just like _somebody_ has been\n> telling me to.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T06:40:19.100", "id": "6619", "last_activity_date": "2019-06-21T18:38:33.413", "last_edit_date": "2019-06-21T18:38:33.413", "last_editor_user_id": "32952", "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "6617", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "The word is garan. The to is grammar.\n\nThere are two general things to keep in mind about 擬音語 and 擬態語:\n\n * Voicing the initial consonant emphasizes or strengthens the original meaning; may often shift the original sense a bit\n * Words in the form of Xn often derive from XX.\n\nThese are general ideas and may not always work, but it is an OK start. As\nsuch, you should expect garan > karan > karakara. This may easily be verified\nin a dictionary.\n\nAs for the meaning, garan has two main senses: 1) a loud resounding echo when\ntwo hard (generally metallic) objects rub against each other 2) (as already\ngiven) empty, barren. The second meaning is an extension of the first in that\nthe sound reverberates outwards spaciously.\n\nAs for karan, it two has two sense: 1) the resounding echo when two hard\n(generally metallic) objects rub against each other; not as loud as in garan\n2) empty spaciousness, but unlike garan the sense of emptiness and loneliness\nis not as strong.\n\nAs for karakara, it only has the one sense: resounding echo when two metallic\nobjects rub against each other.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T14:11:30.150", "id": "6622", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-28T14:11:30.150", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6621", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "First, eating in Tokyo is expressed by `で`: `東京で食べる` (eating \"at\" Tokyo).\n\n> (Aside from my friends who ate there), I also ate at Tokyo. → 私 **も**\n> 東京で食べた。(\"I, also, ate in Tokyo.\")\n>\n> (Aside from the other places where I tried local cuisines), I also ate at\n> Tokyo. → 私は東京 **でも** 食べた。 (\"I ate _also in_ Tokyo.\")\n>\n> (Aside from shopping and other activities), I also ate at Tokyo. → 私は東京で\n> **食べたりしました** 。／私は東京で食べること **も** しました。 (\"Also, I ate in Tokyo.\")\n\nTake a look at [this related\ntopic](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/474/78) as well.\n\n* * *\n\n> How about for i-adjectives, for example \"also big\".\n\nIf it's in the same sentence, you just connect the adjectives with the 〜て\nform.\n\n> 強くて大きいです。 → It's big and strong\n\nIf it's in the/a following sentence, you format the i-adjective as 〜くもあります.\n\n> あの[犀]{さい}は強いです。大き **くもあります** 。 → That rhino is strong. It's also big.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T14:41:18.287", "id": "6624", "last_activity_date": "2022-10-18T20:42:05.073", "last_edit_date": "2022-10-18T20:42:05.073", "last_editor_user_id": "78", "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "6623", "post_type": "answer", "score": 24 }, { "body": "If you express what you want to say without ambiguity, then it becomes quite\nlogical and simple (provided you know the grammar):\n\n> (Aside from my friends who ate there):\n\nYou mean \"I too, ate in Tokyo\", thus: 私 **も** 東京で食事しました。\n\n> (Aside from the other places where I tried local cuisines).\n\nYou mean \"In Tokyo too, I ate\", thus 私は東京で **も** 食事しました。\n\n> (Aside from shopping and other activities)\n\nYou mean, \"I Tokyo, I also ate\", thus 私は東京で食事 **も** します。", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-29T07:03:07.723", "id": "6637", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-30T03:29:01.690", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-30T03:29:01.690", "last_editor_user_id": "162", "owner_user_id": "356", "parent_id": "6623", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "Yes, there is the more broad term 鯨肉 (げいにくor くじらにく). However, because this\nterm usually refers to whale meat, イルカ肉 is more common to distinguish between\nthe two.\n\nAlso, I should mention that the likelihood of you ever having the chance to\neat dolphin meat nowadays is very slim, unless you travel to Wakayama\nprefecture perhaps. In the past, in some areas, such as 伊豆半島【いずはんとう】, you\ncould find it in local supermarkets, labeled as 生イルカ, etc. However, this has\npretty much stopped. On the other hand, whale meat is easier to find and you\nmight find it in some very local 居酒屋, etc. Usually it is sold as くじらベーコン or\n鯨【くじら】の[大和煮]【やまとに】.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T22:16:34.477", "id": "6631", "last_activity_date": "2015-09-06T23:12:11.063", "last_edit_date": "2015-09-06T23:12:11.063", "last_editor_user_id": "3437", "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6625", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 }, { "body": "Dolphin meat is sometimes spelt with a の (イルカの肉) as well. I've had イルカ肉\ncorrected to イルカの肉, and イルカの肉 is mentioned in the Japanese language Wikipedia\narticle mentioned in the quesiton.\n\nThis isn't surprising, given the many conventions for meat given in [Different\nconventions for animal\nmeat](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6629/different-conventions-\nfor-animal-meat?lq=1)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-01-20T03:49:48.440", "id": "11011", "last_activity_date": "2013-01-20T03:49:48.440", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:43.857", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "91", "parent_id": "6625", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "It is a \"rice ball\", usually with some kind of meat inside and wrapped in\nseaweed (similar to sushi). Unlike sushi though, which you hold and eat with\nchopsticks, an onigiri is made to hold in the hand.\n\nThe o- is an honorific prefix. It is used to give respect to an object or\nperson, and is done with several choice words (including o-sushi). This\nsociolinguistic aspect of the Japanese language is **imperative** to\nunderstand, as some words can often sound harsh and/or insulting if the\nhonorific prefix is omitted. See [this\narticle](http://japanese.about.com/library/blqow20.htm) for a more detailed\ndescription.\n\n**edit:** \n[握]{にぎ}り[寿司]{ずし} is a specific kind of sushi. An お[握]{にぎ}り is a rice ball. The\nword [握]{にぎ}り alone simply means \"a grip or handle\" (like a doorknob). They're\nall derived from the verb \"[握]{にぎ}る\", meaning \"to grasp\". On the second page\nyou posted, they appear to be using \"nigiri\" as shorthand for \"nigiri-zushi\".", "comment_count": 12, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T15:53:08.983", "id": "6627", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-28T18:00:23.663", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-28T18:00:23.663", "last_editor_user_id": "1575", "owner_user_id": "1575", "parent_id": "6626", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "Nigiri is a rice ball although it cant be made into a ball since balls of\nnigiri and rice bowls with round top is usually an offering to the dead and if\nyou make a round rice ball and eat it, it is said to bring you very bad luck.\nThe O in front of nigiri or any other word just makes the word more polite.\nMany think nigiri is sushi rice balls but has nothing to do with sushi. It is\njust rice balls but onigiri is also the sushi that are rectangle rice balls\nwith fish or other toppings on it or is rice balls that are made into\ntriangles with nori on it or not which the rice is plain withought being mixed\nwith vinegar. Many think sushi is fish on rice but sushi refers mostly to the\nrice and nothing to do with fish. The SU in sushi is vinegar so Su= vinegar\nSHI = DO SO SUSHI= MADE WITH VINEGAR.\n\nAlso Nigiri has another Japanese name called Musubi or Omusubi and the names\nis different depending what part of Japan you are in.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-03-15T02:10:57.893", "id": "44446", "last_activity_date": "2017-03-15T02:10:57.893", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "20275", "parent_id": "6626", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 } ]

[ { "body": "No, there isn't. You will have to think of an alternative. For example:\n\n仕事の話をする\n\n> AさんとBさんはいつも仕事の話ばかりする\n>\n> A and B are always talking shop (talking about work).\n\n専門の話をする\n\n> この2人が専門の話をしている\n>\n> These two are talking shop.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-28T21:38:38.677", "id": "6630", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-28T23:27:36.397", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-28T23:27:36.397", "last_editor_user_id": "1217", "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6628", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 }, { "body": "How about 専門談義{せんもんだんぎ}?\n\n * 専門: speciality, professional\n * 談義: discourse, preachment, conversation\n\nIt's not exactly a slang, but not listed in a dictionary either. Its\nconnotation can be positive, neutral or negative, depending on the context and\nthe following predicate.\n\n> 2人の医者が専門談義にふけっていた。\n>\n> Two doctors were talking shop.\n\nBy changing the first half of the compound, you can be specific about which\nfield, but may lose the 'professionally related' aspect:\n\n> 参加者はパソコン談義に花を咲かせていました。", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-31T16:48:04.100", "id": "6663", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T16:48:04.100", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "128", "parent_id": "6628", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I just found a word meaning shop talk:\n\n> [楽屋落]{がくやお}ち\n\nIt can also mean: matters incomprehensible to outsiders, inside joke, private\njoke \n<http://tangorin.com/general/inside%20joke>", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-12-07T18:44:33.707", "id": "9715", "last_activity_date": "2012-12-07T18:44:33.707", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1575", "parent_id": "6628", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 } ]

[ { "body": "There is no convenient rule you can use. The different pronunciations come\nfrom the different origins of the words.\n\nThere are basically three kinds of words that are written in kanji in\nJapanese.\n\n * 和語 were developed in Japan, 訓読み words are likely to be 和語\n * 漢語 originated in China, 音読み words are likely to be 漢語\n * There are also combinations of 和語 and 漢語, and those words are called 湯桶読み. \n\nFor more information: <http://www.iwanami.co.jp/moreinfo/0802060/top3.html> .\n\nBy the way there are 鹿肉(しかにく), 馬肉(ばにく) also. Personally I never heard of 豚肉 as\nとんにく.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-23T07:46:14.673", "id": "6896", "last_activity_date": "2012-10-03T19:39:55.657", "last_edit_date": "2012-10-03T19:39:55.657", "last_editor_user_id": "29", "owner_user_id": "1720", "parent_id": "6629", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "It's even more inconsistent than that. Gairaigo is sometimes used for meat.\nApparently, the animal is still typically referred to with a non-gairaigo\nword, but the meat is sometimes (but not always) referred to by a gairaigo\nword.\n\n * ラム is sometimes used for lamb (the meat)\n * マトン is sometimes used for mutton (meat of an old sheep, hence the English expression [mutton dressed as lamb](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mutton_dressed_as_lamb))\n * チキン is sometimes used for chicken (the meat)\n * オージービーフ for Aussie beef\n\nThis inconsistency isn't unique to Japanese, though. In English, the words for\nanimals come from different languages than the words for the meat: the animals\nare of Germanic etymology, whereas the meats are of French etymology,\naccording to [this answer](https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/a/561/421) on\nLinguistics Stack Exchange. The Germanic words would be older than the French\nwords.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-10-19T08:11:19.317", "id": "8161", "last_activity_date": "2012-10-19T08:11:19.317", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:54:11.000", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "91", "parent_id": "6629", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "I think you have to break it down:\n\n本を読めるようになる = so that [I] was able to read [the book/books/a book]\n\nAだけではなくてB = not just A(but also)B....\n\n> => Not just so that I could read books (but also)...\n\nBTW: Just in case this wording sounds awkward, you have asked about a phrase\nnot a complete sentence. The exact wording in English will depend on the rest\nof the sentence and the full context not provided, eg:\n\n * Is this a specific book or books in general (see comments below)?\n * The inclusion of なる (as per comments) suggests the latter(?)\n * I assumed the subject was I but it could be 2nd person/more general\n * I have used \"just\" which felt natural but \"only\" is perhaps technically a more precise word\n\n_Supplementary grammar note:_ ために is often translated as \"in order to\", ように is\noften translated as \"so that\". The main difference b/w the two is that ために is\ngenerally used for actions that can be controlled by the subject, ように is\ntypically used for verbs in potl form, -ve form or stative verbs such as 分かる.\nCompare the following two sentences\n\n> 日本語を勉強するために日本にきました。\n>\n> 日本語が上手になるように一緒懸命勉強しています。", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-29T05:59:39.120", "id": "6635", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-30T00:09:28.390", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6633", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Breaking this apart a bit:\n\n * [potential form+`ようになる`](http://eow.alc.co.jp/%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8B%E3%82%88%E3%81%86%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B/UTF-8/) means \"become able to...\"\n\n * `XだけではなくてY` means \"not only X, Y\"\n\nSo, (assuming there is something after `だけではなくて` and it's not a complete\nsentence), from there I think you can come up with:\n\n> 本を読めるようになるだけではなくて… \n> Not only will (you) become able to read [a book/books], ...\n\n* * *\n\nThe way I understand\n[`よう`](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch/0/0ss/120056100000/) is it means\n\"state\"/\"situation\"/\"form\"/\"way\", and is usually written in Hiragana though\ncan be written with the Kanji `様{よう}`. So for example:\n\n * `～ようになる` can mean \"become into the state of...\":\n\n>\n> NGOはさらに大きな影響力を持つようになるのか。[1](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=NGO%E3%81%AF%E3%81%95%E3%82%89%E3%81%AB%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%AA%E5%BD%B1%E9%9F%BF%E5%8A%9B%E3%82%92%E6%8C%81%E3%81%A4%E3%82%88%E3%81%86%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%80%82) \n> Will NGOs gain greater influence? \n> (lit. \"Will NGOs become into the state of having greater influence?\")\n\n * `～できるようになる` can mean \"become into the state of being able to...\" or \"become able to...\"/\"come to be able to...\" etc:\n\n>\n> あなたはすぐにもっと上手にテニスができるようになるでしょう。[2](http://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/search?query=%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8B%E3%82%88%E3%81%86%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B&from=jpn&to=eng) \n> You will be able to play tennis better soon. \n> (lit. \"You will soon become into the state of being able to do tennis more\n> skillfully\")\n\n * `～ように` (often at the end of a sentence etc) can mean \"towards the state/situation of...\" or \"may you...\" etc, this is used for hoping or wishing for something:\n\n> あなたに不幸が訪れますように！ \n> May misfortune befall you! \n> (lit. \"Towards the state/situation of misfortune befalling you!\")\n\n * `XようにY` can mean \"to go towards a state/situation of X, Y\" or \"X in order to Y\":\n\n> 時間におくれないように家を出た。[3](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch/0/0ss/120056100000/) \n> In order to not be late, (I/he/she etc) left the house. \n> (lit. \"To not go towards a state/situation of being late, (I/he/she etc)\n> left the house\")\n\n * `XのようなY` can mean \"Y that's of a similar state/form to X\", \"Y that's like X\":\n\n>\n> 人生とは自転車のようなものだ。倒れないようにするには走らなければならない。[4](http://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/search?query=%22%E3%81%AE%E3%82%88%E3%81%86%E3%81%AA%22&from=jpn&to=eng) \n> Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. \n> (lit. \"Life is a thing that's of a similar state/form to a bicycle. ...\")\n\n * `よう` as in `どのよう` \"how\"/\"what way\" etc can also mean \"way\"\n\nThere are probably some other usages too.\n\n**Edit:** tried to expand on the different usages of `よう`.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-29T06:10:00.843", "id": "6636", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-01T03:31:46.850", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-01T03:31:46.850", "last_editor_user_id": "796", "owner_user_id": "796", "parent_id": "6633", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "I agree with Ignacio in your comments. Neither of these involve a \"pattern.\"\nThe verb stem can also be used as a plain old noun and に as a plain old\nparticle.\n\nThe second one is easier for me to understand and almost seems similar to\nついでに, which also provides details about \"when\" an action is completed.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-01T16:04:52.320", "id": "6673", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-01T16:04:52.320", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1648", "parent_id": "6648", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "I feel in this specific case, it might be possible to discern a pattern.\n\n> ~に~~する\n\ncan be used to say \"while doing -, I did --\". For example,\n\n> 登校中に便意をもよおした\n\nThis translates to \"while commuting to school, I felt like going to the rest\nroom.\" I think this is almost certainly the case for the second example in the\nOP.\n\nIt may actually not be fitting to interpret the first example the same way,\nsince the expression used to mean \"in crossing\" doesn't really describe what\nthe person is doing, but more like how s/he does thing in relation to the\nother action. So in that case, the usage of に there is describing how the\nthing is done. For example,\n\n> 迅速に支払いをした. (He paid promptly.)\n>\n> 上手に作文を書いた. (He wrote a paper well.)\n>\n> 虹のように弧を描いた (He drew an arc like a rainbow.)\n>\n> 行き違いに手紙を送った (Their letters crossed.)\n\nObviously the last example is very close to the first sentence in the original\npost.\n\nI warn you that I have never been trained to teach Japanese to a student. So\ntake this as some perspective of a native Japanese おっさん. My intention is just\nto point out that the way that I suggest at least sounds natural to a native\nJapanese speaker. Not meaning to offer any insights from linguistic\nfoundations (I wish I could!).", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-19T06:56:24.873", "id": "6853", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-19T06:56:24.873", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1692", "parent_id": "6648", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "<http://no-sword.jp/blog/2010/09/dawn_of_the_week.html>\n\n> It seems that the first people in Japan to adopt \"the week\" (as something\n> other than a divinatory tool) did so because they had no choice: they were\n> dealing with European or American traders in Yokohama, or they were working\n> alongside \"hired foreigners\" in government, education, or the military. It\n> made no sense for them to turn up to work when your trading partners or co-\n> workers were taking the day off, or vice versa.\n>\n> Okada doesn't mention why the Meiji government didn't just write \"must work\n> on Sundays\" into their contracts for hired help, but the religious component\n> was probably a factor. Back then more Christians took the Sabbath seriously.\n> In any case, if all of your external consultants say \"a seven-day week with\n> 1.5 days off is the only way to run a government/army/school,\" eventually\n> you're going to start to believe it.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-31T00:46:39.083", "id": "6657", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T00:46:39.083", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "583", "parent_id": "6649", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "I asked colleagues on the 2012/08/30 - so previous and next sundays are the\n26th and the 3rd - about this because I did not have issue so far and I got\ncurious.\n\n> 14:56 (oldergod)\n> 今週の日曜日ってゆうたら、３日の事になりますか？それか２６日のことですか？週は日曜日から始まるからこうゆうたらどっちに当たるんでしょう？ \n> 14:59 (tanaka) 普通は26日だと思います。少なくとも、私はそう思っています。 \n> 15:00 (Yoshida) 本来は週の初めは日曜日なんですが、感覚的に月曜日が週の初めという人も多いので \n> 15:01 (Yoshida) 日曜日に関しては、今週の～とか使わないのが良いなと思っています。 \n> 15:01 (tanaka) まあ、「この前の日曜」「次の日曜」と言った方が安全ですよね。", "comment_count": 10, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-31T01:50:00.530", "id": "6658", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T06:19:17.370", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-31T06:19:17.370", "last_editor_user_id": "1065", "owner_user_id": "1065", "parent_id": "6649", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "A lot of users on here simply assume a Eurocentric worldview to everything\nwithout doing even basic research on anything. The answers a lot of the time\nare as ridiculous as reading Afrocentrist people and their clear self bias.\n\nIf you are interested in actual history and the reality of the world, instead\nof wanting to stroke your insecure ego, then the below is the actual history\nof Japanese days and their calendar.\n\n 1. The original 7 days originates in ancient Mesopotamia and is based on the 7 lights in the sky (sun, moon, Venus, Saturn, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter). Yes I am sorry it isn't a European invention and Europeans only adopted it from Mesopotamia after spreading to Greece and then Rome and then the rest of Europe. \n 2. This system didn't spread to just Europe, it spread to India, and then from India into China. As you know China had a lot of influence on early Japanese culture, and this is where Japan in turn got the 7 day week from. The writings of the Chinese Scholar Fan Ning in the 300's prove that this system had made it to China by this date. The Chinese used element names in place of the planet names. \n 3. A Japanese monk brought this system back from mainland Buddhists in the year 806. Soon after Japanese astronomers learned of this and worked these 7 days into the Japanese calendar. There is still a surviving diary of a Japanese statesman from the year 1007 who uses this system of dating. It was commonly used in Japan by this time. \n\nThe \"west\" or \"Europeans\" did not invent this system, nor did they introduce\nit to Japan. Again I am sorry if real history doesn't stroke your ego, but\nthose are the facts.\n\nSo what did Japan adopt during interactions with western countries? Well Japan\nalready had months, years and naming of the 7 days in a cycle (as did China,\nwhere Japan got it from originally).\n\nSo what actually was introduced via western contact primarily in the west's\nheyday in the 19th century was the Gregorian calendar.\n\nAll Japanese know the Gregorian calendar today, they still use the original\nJapanese calendar as well for official duties, yet the Gregorian calendar is\nactually more common in everyday Japanese life today than the traditional\nJapanese calendar. It was during the Meiji era that the co-adoption of the\nGregorian system was chosen.\n\nThe Gregorian calendar itself was a model Europeans made after they themselves\nadopted the Mesopotamian/Babylonian system. This particular Gregorian calendar\nwas formulated in 1582 by a pope in Italy. Europeans of course long knew of\nthe months and weeks and years because they had known of this\nMesopotamian/Babylonian system ever since around the 1st century AD when Rome\nfirst adopted it via Greece. The Gregorian calendar is based 99% on this,\nexcept it lists dates in relation to Christ as BC and AD.\n\nYet modern people call these common era and before common era to remove the\nreligious connotations. The Gregorian calendar's months and years did not\nalign to the same times in the Chinese and Japanese calendar. Meaning the\noriginal Japanese lunar based system had it's month prior to the Gregorian\ncalendar and thus the years started and ended at different times as well,\ndespite both operating on a 12 month and 7 day system.\n\nUpon adopting the Gregorian calendar, the Japanese used their own traditional\n7 day week names in the Gregorian calendar system. And used their traditional\nmonth names as well.\n\nJapan and China had always considered Sunday the start of the week, as this is\nfrom the ancient Mesopotamian system which they based their own off in ancient\ntimes.\n\nThe concept of Monday being the first day is a newer concept and Monday is\ntechnically considered the first day of the week by international standards.\nThis means that most modern European countries consider Monday the first day\nof the week.\n\nIn Japan the first day of the week is Sunday, like it always has been since\nthe 9th century and also has been in China since the 4th century. And this has\nnothing to do with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar or Europeans I\nam afraid.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2020-02-02T11:23:01.823", "id": "74207", "last_activity_date": "2020-02-02T11:29:51.437", "last_edit_date": "2020-02-02T11:29:51.437", "last_editor_user_id": "36753", "owner_user_id": "36753", "parent_id": "6649", "post_type": "answer", "score": -3 } ]

[ { "body": "> If not, does anyone have a reasonable explanation for why 父 and 乳 have the\n> same pronunciation\n\nI do have one: the relatively limited number of words than can be made from\ncomposing the sounds of kanas. You are doomed to have either a lot of\nhomophones, or a lot of _very_ long words… I believe that evolution led to\nhaving shorter words with collisions rather than extra long words…", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-30T07:17:58.117", "id": "6651", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-30T07:17:58.117", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "356", "parent_id": "6650", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "The pronunciation is the same, so no, you cannot differentiate it from there.\nContext is the key in this case, and in many other cases.\n\nThe fact is that Japanese is a language with only a few sounds at its\ndisposal, so homophones are to be expected. This is especially true\nconsidering that Japanese works with syllables, while other languages work\nwith single letters, and this allows more combinations, because consonants are\nnot necessarily attached to vowels: Japanese cannot have consonant clusters.\n\nThings like **br** , **pr** , etc, are achieved by using the **う (U)** vowel,\nwhich is half-muted, and it makes the syllables look (and above all, sound)\nlike consonant clusters.\n\nI don't know about the etymology since I cannot understand Japanese well and I\ndon't think I could check an Etymology dictionary... Unless there are in\nEnglish.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-30T11:07:47.673", "id": "6652", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T13:30:48.610", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-31T13:30:48.610", "last_editor_user_id": "37", "owner_user_id": "37", "parent_id": "6650", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "父 and 乳 cannot be differentiated by pronunciation (including accentation).\n\nWhile the word titi \"father\" is attested in Old Japanese (8th century), titi\n\"breasts\" is not extant until the 17th century. However, it is more\ncomplicated than that. titi \"breasts\" is a reduplication of ti \"breasts\" which\nis extant in OJ. Also, titi \"father\" seems to be a reduplication of ti, a\nsuffix attached to men. This can be seen in ooZI, hikoZI, and maro ga TI. The\nlast one hints that ti may function as \"father\" on its own as well.\n\nOne possible motivation for ti > titi \"father\" is due to regularization with\nhaha \"mother\", which repeats the same syllable twice. The ultimate etymology\nof both ti are unknown. Perhaps ti \"father\" is related to ti \"blood\" (血) as in\nwhat links a family. Other speculation is possible.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-30T11:23:37.693", "id": "6653", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-30T11:23:37.693", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6650", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 } ]

[ { "body": "GIGNと言う名の犬: a (or those) dog(s) by the name of GIGN. na is name.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-30T13:27:32.627", "id": "6655", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-30T13:27:32.627", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6654", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "The nuances are pretty much aligned with the English equivalents\n\n> When I was 18, ...\n>\n> When I was 18 years old, ...\n\nAppending 歳 is more complete and would be favoured in formal situations (e.g.\nas part of 丁寧語).\n\nBonus question: `20のとき` sounds childish (albeit you being clearly over 20),\nlike [5日]{ごにち} instead of いつか, so はたちの時 escapes the simplification rule and\nwould be preferred in both formal and informal contexts.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-31T02:58:42.427", "id": "6661", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T02:58:42.427", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6659", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "They are known as [Arabic\nNumerals](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numerals), or アラビア数字 in\nJapanese. As you may notice, 1, 2, 3, etc. were developed by Indian\nmathematicians and did not originate from ancient Rome. Up until the 14th\ncentury Roman numerals were used, but were eventually abandoned in favor of\nArabic Numerals.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-31T02:59:10.457", "id": "6662", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T03:06:48.527", "last_edit_date": "2012-08-31T03:06:48.527", "last_editor_user_id": "1217", "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6660", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 }, { "body": "As Jesse Good said, Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, …, 9) are called アラビア数字 in\nJapanese. Another name for them is 算用数字.\n\nAs an aside, numerals in kanji (一, 二, 三, …), loaned from Chinese, are called\n漢数字 in Japanese. Roman numerals (I, II, III, …) are called ローマ数字.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-31T16:49:46.217", "id": "6664", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T16:49:46.217", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6660", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "It serves the same purpose as \"-ness\" in English; making an adjective into a\nnoun.\n\n> [速]{はや}さ = speed; quickness \n> [高]{たか}さ = height; \"tallness\" \n> [長]{なが}さ = length; \"longness\" \n> [新]{あたら}しさ = newness \n> [大]{おお}きさ = size; largeness\n\nand in your case:\n\n> [多]{おお}さ = multitude \n> [美]{うつく}しさ = beauty\n\nSo in this context, the expression means \"I, against my better judgement,\nbought a **multitude** of goods.\"", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-31T18:33:41.403", "id": "6666", "last_activity_date": "2020-02-19T04:51:23.660", "last_edit_date": "2020-02-19T04:51:23.660", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "1575", "parent_id": "6665", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "As phoenixheart6 wrote, suffix -さ makes a noun from an adjective. I am not\nsure if you have a problem with this. But it seems that you have a\nmisunderstanding about the role of に. In a sentence\n\n> 品揃えの多さについつい買い込んでしまった。\n\nに means “because of.” 買い込む means “to buy many things.” Therefore, it means:\n\n> Because of the variety of goods they sell, I ended up buying too many things\n> against my better judgment.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-08-31T22:32:14.747", "id": "6667", "last_activity_date": "2012-08-31T22:32:14.747", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6665", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 } ]

[ { "body": "Think of `しては` as a contraction of `して、あとは` as in\n\n> 僕はバイトして、あとはレコードばかり買っていた……\n\nand look over the fact that there are two topic markers `は` in the sentence\nnow.\n\nIt then means, that apart from work, all `僕` did was buy records.\n\nThis construction can be used with other words as well.\n\n> 僕は食べては、寝ていただけです。\n>\n> Apart from eating, all I did was sleep.\n\nThe point is that the second phrase expresses some restricted action, e.g.\nusing `だけ`, `のみ` or `ばかり` (or `しか+neg.`).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-01T07:10:18.867", "id": "6670", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-01T07:42:49.403", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6669", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "I think it might be sense 3 of this [Daijirin\ndefinition](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AF&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&index=113492300000&pagenum=1),\nwhich defines it as `…するときはいつも…する`, which I think can be defined as \"whenever\n(you) do ..., (you) do ...\":\n\n> 僕はアルバイトしてはレコードばかり買っていたから、一日半働けばLP一枚買えるな、と思って働いていた。 \n> Whenever I was working part-time, I was solely buying records, so I was\n> working thinking that if I work for a day and a half, I can buy an LP.\n\nFor example, from\n[Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AF&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=0&index=12757600&pagenum=1):\n\n> 幼い頃は電車を見ては喜んでいた。 \n> When I was young, whenever I saw a train I was delighted.\n\nI think this is distinct from another similar usage of `～ては` (sense 4 at\n[Daijirin](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AF&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&index=113492300000&pagenum=1)),\nwhich is defined as two actions etc which make a pair and are repeated, for\nexample:\n\n> ころんでは起き、ころんでは起きて… \n> (I) alternate between falling down and getting up, falling down and getting\n> up...\n\n**Edit:** Reverted the definition to an earlier version based on suggestions\nin the comments.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-01T08:22:00.900", "id": "6672", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-01T14:07:18.907", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-01T14:07:18.907", "last_editor_user_id": "796", "owner_user_id": "796", "parent_id": "6669", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "To answer part of the question:\n\nFor 大きい／大きな and 小さい／小さな I understand the difference is small, but the _na_\n-form is often preferred with abstract words\n\n> 大きな功績 great achievement \n> 大きな進歩 great progress \n> 小さな間違い small mistakes \n> 小さい時 when I was small (i.e. when I was a child).\n\nI use the word \"often\" because there are exceptions: both 大きい問題 and 大きな問題 are\nacceptable*.\n\n* _Reference: \"nihongo notes 10\", p. 56_", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-02T03:57:29.743", "id": "6680", "last_activity_date": "2021-05-01T05:35:10.893", "last_edit_date": "2021-05-01T05:35:10.893", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6675", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 }, { "body": "After some research, there seems to be little difference in meaning. In some\nsituations, maybe ease of pronunciation is more of a guide than nuance of\nmeaning. For example, in the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese\n(BCCWJ, 少納言), we have\n\n```\n\n 大きな木 154 results\n 大きい木 12 results\n \n```\n\n(But 木 is clearly no abstract concept.)\n\nHowever, my question stated that 大きい etc. can be used as both イ- and\nナ-adjective, which seems to be only half of the truth as 大き shouldn't be\nconsidered a ナ-adjective, even though it can modify nouns as 大きな.\n\nFor example, 大き cannot be inflected, to form an adverb (cf. 静か → 静かに.)\n\nRather 大きな belongs to the class of [連体詞]{れんたいし} (Rikaichan calls this _pre-\nnoun adjectival_ or _adnominal adjective_ , a better name would be _adnoun_ ).\n\n連体詞 are words which cannot inflect and must modify a noun (or pronoun), e.g.\n\n> この、その、あの、……\n>\n> おかしな、大きな、小さな、……\n\nas in\n\n> このやり方は一番よい。\n>\n> こうするのが一番よい。\n\nor\n\n> 空におかしな形の雲が浮かんでいる。\n>\n> 空に変な形の雲が浮かんでいる。\n\nThese 連体詞 seem to come in 4-5 varieties (depending on the book you read):\n\n> 「～の」の形・・・この、その、あの、どの、ほんの\n>\n> 「～な」の形・・・大きな、小さな、おかしな、いろんな\n>\n> 「～た、～だ」の形・・・たいした、たった、とんだ、ばかげた\n>\n> 「～る」の形・・・ある、あらゆる、いわゆる、さる、きたる、いかなる、堂々たる\n>\n> 「～が」の形・・・わが\n\nAll this information is a summary of [this\nsite](http://blog.livedoor.jp/aritouch/archives/2865534.html). I hope someone\nwill find it useful.\n\nThis should also shed some grammatical light on\n[this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6569/1628) and [this\nquestion](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6502/1628).\n\nIn an after-thought as to why `小さい時` cannot be `小さな時` is that `小さな` is a 連体詞\nand must modify a (pro)noun and thus forces the meaning `small time`, rather\nthan allowing for the interpretation as a sentence in which the (omitted)\nsubject was small, which is usually translated with a relative clause, i.e.\n`the time, when I was small` or just `when I was small`.\n\nSo, the general rule seems to be that one can choose either one of the word\npair, but when choosing the one ending in な, one chooses to modify directly\nthe noun which must follow it and disallows constructions with relative\nclauses.\n\nE.g. compare\n\n> 山の大きい街 vs. 山の大きな街.\n\nThe former can mean a `city with a big mountain`, whereas the latter is\nnecessarily a `big city situated on a mountain`. (One can probably come up\nwith better examples.)", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-04T04:50:02.800", "id": "6694", "last_activity_date": "2019-08-24T07:04:55.460", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6675", "post_type": "answer", "score": 18 }, { "body": "A morphological analysis may help to shed light on the difference between 形容詞\nand 形容動詞 (referred to as i- and na-adjective respectively in Japanese grammar\nbooks written in English).\n[形容詞](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%BD%A2%E5%AE%B9/#jn-67145)\nexpresses the appearance, nature, or state of things.\n[形容動詞](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%BD%A2%E5%AE%B9%E5%8B%95%E8%A9%9E/#jn-67154)\ndoes the same but the structure of it is **a noun followed by the conjugated\nform of the copula だ** 「だろ・だっ（で・に）・だ・な・なら・〇」. So, a noun followed by the\n_attributive_ form of だ (which is な) transfers the _attributes_ of that noun\nto the described word (noun, pronoun or a noun clause).\n\nIn this light, let's compare 小さい and 小さな. 小さい simply means _small_ , but 小さな\nmeans _having attributes of 小さ_. 小さ is an archaic term for _a baby_. So, 小さい木\nis simply _a small tree_ , while 小さな木 is _a tree with the attributes of a\nbaby_ , in other words _a baby tree_. The meaning of both expressions are\nalmost identical, but the latter uses the technique called\n[personification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personification). This\ntechnique gives that _**artistic and emotional taste**_ mentioned at the end\nof the dictionary entry for\n[小さい](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%B0%8F%E3%81%95%E3%81%84_%28%E3%81%A1%E3%81%84%E3%81%95%E3%81%84%29/#jn-140896).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2022-09-22T08:55:16.070", "id": "96309", "last_activity_date": "2022-09-22T08:55:16.070", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3371", "parent_id": "6675", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "For example, the most natural way of translating this expression\n\n> One day Jennifer tidied up her son's bedroom. Little did she know her son\n> would be so mad when he found that out.\n\ncan be rephrased simply as follows:\n\n> One day Jennifer tidied up her son's bedroom. She did not know her son would\n> be so mad when he found that out.\n\nBasically it is a fancier way of saying ～ことをまったく知らなかった where ～ is the\nstatement that follows the expression.\n\nI find the most natural way of translating this is to write\n彼女は（息子が怒り出す）とは思わなかった, to show that the person was kind of caught off guard by\nwhat happened.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-09T19:35:00.807", "id": "6743", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-20T13:37:41.840", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-20T13:37:41.840", "last_editor_user_id": "1141", "owner_user_id": "1692", "parent_id": "6676", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "これ by itself means \"this\" and これ以上, then means \"beyond this\" or \"more than\nthis\". これ以上+neg. means, then, \"no more than this\".\n\nYou could expand the above sentence to\n\n> この時間以上(は)シャレてる時間はない。 \n> I don't have time (to fool around), beyond the time I have spent already\n> fooling around.\n\nJust to give another example:\n\n> これ以上はできない。 \n> I can't do any more. (lit. I can't do more than this.)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-02T02:45:17.007", "id": "6678", "last_activity_date": "2016-09-17T19:55:10.443", "last_edit_date": "2016-09-17T19:55:10.443", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6677", "post_type": "answer", "score": 15 }, { "body": "So Rikai-chan says that 以上 means: `(n-adv,n-t) not less than; ... and more;\n... and upwards; beyond ... (e.g. one's means); further (e.g. nothing further\nto say); more than ... (e.g. cannot pay more than that); (P)`\n\nSo it seems it's emphasizing that: **beyond this point** , there's no more\ntime to fool around.\n\nIt seems to be more likely to be in sentence with verbs that are in negative\nconjugation as well.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-02T02:46:42.433", "id": "6679", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-02T02:46:42.433", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "769", "parent_id": "6677", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Just to add to what has already been said, minna no nihongo, chuukyu 1,\nchapter 3, translates これ以上 as \"any longer\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-03-15T10:03:34.273", "id": "11469", "last_activity_date": "2013-03-15T10:03:34.273", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3242", "parent_id": "6677", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "Rikaichan writes `べくして` as `可くして` and translates it as\n\n> (uk) as it is bound to (happen)/following the natural course\n>\n> (uk) though possible as it may be\n\nwhich is derived from `べく` / `～べき`, which are written as `可く` / `～可き`,\nrespectively.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-03T03:23:18.187", "id": "6683", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-03T04:01:35.533", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6681", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "Sounds like I put it [the notice/schedule?] up on the wall [for all to see?]\nyesterday.\n\nspaceALC:\n\n～を壁に貼る stick ~ up on the wall\n\nApple dictionary:\n\nポスターを壁にはった｜We put up posters on the walls.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-03T03:23:30.017", "id": "6684", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-03T03:23:30.017", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6682", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "This is my personal impression, but I think that その後 read as そのあと or そののち\nmeans “shortly after that” or “then,” whereas その後 read as そのご means a longer\nperiod than that, corresponding more to “ever since then.” そののち sounds more\nformal than そのあと to me.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-03T17:46:49.260", "id": "6687", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-03T17:46:49.260", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6685", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "Every kana has a \"set\" romaji in the qwerty layout, even if it doesn't always\nmake sense from an English perspective. For example づ is \"d-u\", even thou it's\npronounced closer to \"zu\".\n\nThe instances where a kana is not pronounced how it looks (as far as I know)\nare limited to は when it acts as a particle. If you're just starting out, you\nmight find this confusing, but it really become second nature to read or\npronounce は properly. Compare that to English's spelling/pronunciation!\n\nIf one kana had multiple ways to type it, it would become complicated. For\nexample, to say ３時半, and you could type, \"s-a-n-j-i-w-a-n\" you'd just be wrong\nand confused.\n\nAlso, I can't tell if this is causing you confusion, but Japanese people use\nqwerty keyboards just like in America. There is a layout where each key is a\ndifferent kana, but I've never met anyone who uses it.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-03T18:06:41.410", "id": "6688", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-03T18:06:41.410", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "921", "parent_id": "6686", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Because computers cannot read your mind. When you type \"wa\", the computer\ncannot decipher whether you mean わ or は, so it was decided that わ would be the\nonly way. You could argue that you could develop a system to perform 変換 based\non context, but I would imagine that any attempt would fail. Also, if you\ndon't like this system, you can always use かな入力 (mainly used by people who\ndon't understand ローマ字), so when you hit the は key, you will always get what\nyou want.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-03T23:02:40.733", "id": "6689", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-03T23:02:40.733", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6686", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Or, to put Jesse Good's answer another way: When the romaji input was fixed it\nwas probably decided it was more efficient to make human's input h-a rather\nthan further complicate the programming and avoid additional time to perfom\n変換.\n\nEven if this could be done with modern programming I don't expect it is more\nlikely to change than the QWERTY keyboard layout, which was designed to\nslowdown the input to a mechanical type-writer and reduce problem of the\nletter-hammers jamming.\n\n（A better question would be why is the \"wa-particle\" the hiragana は and not\nわ？）", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-04T00:03:32.833", "id": "6690", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-04T08:41:46.437", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-04T08:41:46.437", "last_editor_user_id": "1556", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6686", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "Because of the way IMEs are designed. All Japanese IMEs based on romaji that I\nknow of (roughly) divide the keyboard-to-script transformation into two\nconceptual parts:\n\n 1. romaji-to-kana. This part is usually deterministic, i.e. no romaji combination gives more than one option of kana.\n 2. kana-to-(kanji or kana or whatever). This part is not deterministic, and requires the user to choose between different renderings.\n\nThere is no reason why the two steps couldn't be combined into one non-\ndeterministic step, i.e. directly from romaji-to-(kanji or kana or whatever),\nbut given that Japanese already has many homophones, this would probably only\nadd to the confusion when choosing between renderings.\n\nJapanese doesn't have one single universal romanization scheme which everyone\nagrees upon. And even if they did, that scheme might not be the best to use\nfor input. Some romanization schemes try to be (somewhat) true to\npronunciation, some try to be true to phonemes, and some try to be true to\n(kana) orthography. I think it's fairly natural that the ones used for input\nare somewhat true to orthography. For example, there's no pronunciation which\nrenders as \"ッァ\", but that doesn't mean that you cannot have reasons to type\nthis.\n\nAs for why you saw someone write the particle は as \"ha\" in handwritten notes,\nmy best guess would be that that person frequently uses IMEs with romanized\ninput, and therefore that came more natural to them.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-04T05:24:22.073", "id": "6695", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-04T05:24:22.073", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "6686", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "ハ for the topic particle. There's no difference from hiragana.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-04T00:19:10.100", "id": "6692", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-04T00:19:10.100", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "315", "parent_id": "6691", "post_type": "answer", "score": 22 }, { "body": "Katakana is just used for foreign words, the grammar elements are not written\nin Katakana.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-05T05:13:00.037", "id": "6710", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-05T05:13:00.037", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1677", "parent_id": "6691", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 }, { "body": "You can see it's **ハ** as what the old MS office assistant _F1_ said\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/TLtOW.png)\n\nYou can also see the usage of **ヲ** in the above sentence\n\n* * *\n\nAs a side note the text above isn't a translation of the English version\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/mGTwY.gif)\n\nUnfortunately F1 is the only one who _talks_ in Katakana. Here are the other\n[Japanese assistants](http://d.hatena.ne.jp/akaibara/20130815) and [English\nassistants](https://menga.net/bring-back-earl-the-cat)", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2013-11-13T00:45:43.063", "id": "13404", "last_activity_date": "2018-07-22T15:49:32.563", "last_edit_date": "2018-07-22T15:49:32.563", "last_editor_user_id": "3786", "owner_user_id": "3786", "parent_id": "6691", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 }, { "body": "The basic answer is that は is written ハ in katakana.\n\n* * *\n\nHowever, I think it depends on _why_ it's written in katakana. One reason you\nmight write something in katakana is to communicate pronunciation, and in this\ncase the particle は would be written ワ:\n\n```\n\n spelling pronunciation\n \n おはよう オハヨー\n こんにちは コンニチワ\n \n```\n\nYou can see this sort of use of katakana in [some official\ndocuments](https://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/sisaku/joho/joho/kijun/naikaku/gendaikana/huhyo_kyo.html),\nfor example.\n\nOn the other hand, if you're just writing regular Japanese using katakana,\nyou'd usually spell は as ハ. Another reason you might use katakana is for the\n_use-mention distinction_ ; some books or papers about Japanese grammar, for\ninstance, write particles in katakana when they're mentioned rather than used,\nand in this context は would be ハ (and を would be ヲ, and so on).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2013-11-13T08:37:39.700", "id": "13407", "last_activity_date": "2021-01-29T21:43:36.450", "last_edit_date": "2021-01-29T21:43:36.450", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "6691", "post_type": "answer", "score": 18 } ]

[ { "body": "着ける can be used for those items that fall under the する \"used for accessories\"\ncategory above, e.g.\n\n> 時計を着ける \n> イヤリングを着ける.\n\nProbably the reading comes from 付ける »to attach« and the _kanji_ from the fact\nthat you are \"attaching\" something to your body in the sense of wearing it.\n\nBy the way, マフラーを巻く would be preferred to マフラーを着ける or マフラーをする.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-04T07:36:31.283", "id": "6697", "last_activity_date": "2016-09-11T12:36:12.907", "last_edit_date": "2016-09-11T12:36:12.907", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6696", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "According to JWP and AEDICT (my feeling is that both use the same dictionary,\nso I can't be 100% sure) the correct spelling* is the following:\n\n生【い】き甲斐【がい】 (n) something one lives for, very important, (P)\n\nI hope that helps.\n\n * I typed spelling because that's how my Japanese teacher used to refer to kanji composition and stroke order.\n\n> This is how you spell the kanji correctly.\n\nor\n\n> Make sure that you use the correct kanji spelling", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-04T13:57:28.613", "id": "6699", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-04T13:57:28.613", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1206", "parent_id": "6698", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "Searching the [_Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written\nJapanese_](http://www.kotonoha.gr.jp/shonagon/), I find the following results:\n\n```\n\n 　生きがい　　　606 results, 75% of total\n 　生き甲斐　　　186 results, 23% of total\n 　生甲斐　　　　20 results, 2% of total\n \n```\n\nAs you can see, in this corpus the most common way to write it is 生きがい. In\nfact, this is the form recommended by the NHK漢字表記辞典 (the kanji 斐 isn't\nincluded on the [official jōyō kanji\nchart](http://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/joho/kijun/naikaku/pdf/joyokanjihyo_20101130.pdf)).\n\nWhat about the alternatives? Well, writing 生き甲斐 appears to be somewhat less\ncommon, though I don't think there's anything actually wrong with it. Writing\n生甲斐, though, appears to be significantly less common--this form has only 2% of\nthe total search results!\n\nBased on the above, I'd suggest sticking to 生きがい most of the time. But since\nyou're doing calligraphy, I think you have to make an aesthetic choice for\nyourself. I'd just like to point out that hiragana can be very attractive in\ncalligraphy.\n\n* * *\n\nThe 連用形 (continuative form) of a verb can be used like a noun in Japanese, and\nit's not uncommon for this form to be lexicalized as a noun or as part of a\nlarger compound noun. Since nouns don't inflect, these derived forms don't\nreally need okurigana most of the time, and there's a tendency to get rid of\nthem. For example, 取引 or 話 are generally written without okurigana, even\nthough they're clearly derived from the continuative forms 取り＋引き and 話し.\n\nBut the orthography isn't really consistent this way. And some words, like 後ろ,\nuse okurigana even though they don't inflect, in order to prevent misreadings.\n[Tsuyoshi Ito left a\ncomment](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6698/how-to-write-\nikigai?rq=1#comment17282_6698) suggesting that something similar might be the\ncase here as well, that 生（いき） might be avoided because of 生（なま）. I don't know\nmyself whether or not this is the case, but we can see from the corpus results\nthat even though it's a lexical compound and doesn't inflect, people usually\ndon't write 生き甲斐 without okurigana.\n\nBased on the corpus data and Tsuyoshi Ito's comment, I think I would avoid\nwriting 生甲斐 under most circumstances.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-11-14T14:55:06.610", "id": "19511", "last_activity_date": "2014-11-14T14:55:06.610", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:44.863", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "6698", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "The やき of やきもち can be written in two ways, 焼く and 妬く.\n\nAssuming you know the former(焼く), 妬く can mean to be jealous. So, the word is a\nplay on words that have the same sound. The もち part, meaning rice cake (餅) is\nsaid to come from 気持ち, in other words やきもち originated from the phrase 妬く気持ち\n(whether もち actually originated from 気持ち or not is unclear though).\n\nSometimes you will see it written as カタカナ (ヤキモチ) and young people often use\nit. For example:\n\n> 私の彼氏は超ヤキモチ焼き <\\-- As if spoken by a young female\n>\n> 女のやきもちって恐ろしい\n\nHowever, this word has existed for quite some time, so I wouldn't consider it\nto be slang.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-04T21:31:05.250", "id": "6702", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-04T21:31:05.250", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6701", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 }, { "body": "> Why does 「やきもち」 refer to being jealous?\n\nyakimoti has two meanings: 1) a grilled rice cake, and 2) jealousy. It took on\nthe second meaning due to the fact that yak-u means (among other things) \"to\nbe jealous\".\n\n(Note that \"jealous\" is an adjective, while yakimoti is a noun. As such,\njealousy (noun) is more appropriate.)\n\n> Is this a slang word?\n\nNo. It has been a well established word for several hundred years.\n\n> How do people use this word?\n\nUsually in the form of \"~ ni yakimoti wo yaku\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-04T21:33:37.520", "id": "6703", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-04T21:33:37.520", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6701", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "For more information, the Kanji root of the word is 焼 which means: bake,\nburning.\n\nWhen you are jealous, you feel it burning inside you, right?", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-05T05:09:57.543", "id": "6709", "last_activity_date": "2012-11-25T06:57:38.987", "last_edit_date": "2012-11-25T06:57:38.987", "last_editor_user_id": "290", "owner_user_id": "1677", "parent_id": "6701", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "The name seems appropriate to me. A parent may know about the initial set of\nteeth that their children have. However, wisdom teeth begin to grow around 18+\nyears of age. The child is now an adult, so the parents typically will not\nknow about these extra teeth coming in at such a late period.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-05T03:04:21.740", "id": "6705", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-05T03:04:21.740", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6704", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "In the olden days people died early and usually by the time the wisdom teeth\nwould break through the parents would have died already.\n\nThus 親知らず meaning \"not knowing your parents\".", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-05T03:05:42.003", "id": "6706", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-05T03:05:42.003", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6704", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "From [the wikipedia\narticle](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A6%AA%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9A):\n\n>\n> 赤ん坊の歯の生え始めと違い、多くの場合親元を離れてから生え始めるため、親が歯の生え始めを知ることはない。そのため親知らずという名が付いた。また、乳歯が永久歯の「親」と考えると、親知らずには、対応する乳歯が存在しないので、「対応する乳歯が無い＝親知らず」として命名された、という説もある。\n\nTranslation (please edit where appropriate):\n\n> In contrast to baby teeth, wisdom teeth often start to grow in after you\n> become independent of your parents. Therefore, your parents do not know\n> about them. This is the reason they are called 親知らず. Also, if you think of\n> baby teeth as the \"parents\" of permanent teeth, 親知らず do not have\n> corresponding baby teeth, as a result, some people claim that 親知らず means\n> teeth which do not have corresponding baby teeth.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-05T03:10:43.157", "id": "6707", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-05T04:50:10.437", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-05T04:50:10.437", "last_editor_user_id": "315", "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6704", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 } ]

[ { "body": "[This is meant to be a practical rather an academic answer, intended for\nfellow students]\n\nAs the above comment helpfully says, the usage you found is not particularly\nunusual or literary.\n\nI can't comment on how _extreme_ the use of 姿 gets in a literary context but\n_if, like me, you are trying to grasp the breadth of its normal use over and\nabove its familiar use as \"figure\" or \"appearance\"_ then I think the easiest\nway is know a few key sentences (or at least this is what I am doing). I made\na point of remembering and then focus on grasping the following few:\n\n> 本来の姿 | proper state / real character\n>\n> 母の姿が目に浮かぶ | my late mother comes to mind (note context)\n>\n> 〜姿を見せる｜appear on the scene\n\nAnd, as it was an important word to understand, being alert for new/variations\non these.\n\nI put the following list together using some more of my own examples and the\nApple dictionary (which seems close to Daijisen in content)\n\n**1 外見，身なり/appearance:**\n\n> 男の子はみすぼらしい姿をしていた｜The boy was shabbily dressed.\n>\n> ___________________に姿をやつす｜disguise oneself as_______\n\n**2 体の格好/figure**\n\n> 母の姿が目に浮かぶ | my late mother comes to mind (note context)\n>\n> トムは後ろ姿がジムにそっくりだ｜When seen from behind, Tom looks exactly like Jim.\n\n**3 人の目に映る体，その人/\"sightings of a person\"**\n\n> あれっきり彼は姿を見せない｜We have seen nothing of him since. /That was the last we saw\n> of him.\n>\n> 彼は姿を隠した［くらました］｜He went into hiding.\n\n**4 物の形/shape of an object**\n\n> 間もなく湖が姿を現した｜Soon the lake showed itself [came in view].\n>\n> 太陽が何日も姿を見せなかった｜The sun remained [stayed] hidden for days.\n\n**5 ありさま，様子/condition, circumstances**\n\n> 本来の姿 | proper state / real character\n>\n> それが民主国家の本当の姿だ｜That is what a democratic country should be like.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-05T15:45:12.160", "id": "6711", "last_activity_date": "2015-07-13T19:14:19.453", "last_edit_date": "2015-07-13T19:14:19.453", "last_editor_user_id": "3437", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6708", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "It might be helpful to define what you mean by \"authentic sentence examples\".\nActual sentences that have appeared on past exams? Study materials oriented\ntowards the JLPT with \"in-context\" sentence examples? Or, content written for\nnative speakers that would be helpful for JLPT study?\n\nFor the new exam format (N1, N2, etc.) I don't believe past papers are being\npublished. You can either see the official\n[samples](http://www.jlpt.jp/samples/forlearners.html) or get copies of the\n[old\nformat](http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B%E8%A9%A6%E9%A8%931%E3%83%BB2%E7%B4%9A-%E8%A9%A6%E9%A8%93%E5%95%8F%E9%A1%8C%E3%81%A8%E6%AD%A3%E8%A7%A3%E3%80%88%E5%B9%B3%E6%88%9021%E5%B9%B4%E5%BA%A6-%E7%AC%AC1%E5%9B%9E%E3%80%89%E2%80%95%E8%81%B4%E8%A7%A3%E5%95%8F%E9%A1%8CCD%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AA%E3%83%97%E3%83%88%E4%BB%98-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%9B%BD%E9%9A%9B%E6%95%99%E8%82%B2%E6%94%AF%E6%8F%B4%E5%8D%94%E4%BC%9A/dp/4893587277/ref=sr_1_63?ie=UTF8&qid=1346975944&sr=8-63).\n\nIn terms of made-for-native materials that might help on the JLPT...\nnewspapers, essays, editorials? In the sense of preparing for a test oriented\ntowards foreigners, native content is probably best for vocabulary\nacquisition.\n\nI would say that ultimately if your goal is to pass the JLPT then you should\nbe utilizing materials oriented specifically for the JLPT. My favorite is the\n[完全マスター](http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%AE%8C%E5%85%A8%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC2%E7%B4%9A-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B%E8%A9%A6%E9%A8%93%E6%96%87%E6%B3%95%E5%95%8F%E9%A1%8C%E5%AF%BE%E7%AD%96-%E3%82%A2%E3%82%B8%E3%82%A2%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E5%8D%94%E4%BC%9A%E7%95%99%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E3%82%B3%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9/dp/4883190889)\nseries. They have editions for grammar, kanji, reading, etc. Light on\nexplanation and heavy with sentences and reading passages. While reading\npassages have a topic or theme, the one-shot example sentences have no broader\ncontext but I still found them useful and easy to study with.\n\nGood luck", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-07T00:15:05.293", "id": "6715", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-07T01:04:44.317", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-07T01:04:44.317", "last_editor_user_id": "1305", "owner_user_id": "1305", "parent_id": "6713", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "That structure came from classical Japanese (文語), which had been used in\nformal writing until just after WWII. Technically those are not 辞書形 (終止形), but\n連体形. In classical Japanese, the 連体形 of a verb can work as a noun, like 連体形 +\nの/こと in modern Japanese (口語).", "comment_count": 6, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-07T05:53:16.693", "id": "6716", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-07T05:53:16.693", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1119", "parent_id": "6714", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Constructions like 聞くがよい are a command or strong suggestion: \"Listen\"/\"You\nshould listen\". On the other hand, if you add の or こと after the verb, I think\nit becomes a more broad/general statement: \"It is good to listen\". Maybe it\ncould achieve approximately the same effect, but at the very least I think\nthere's a big difference in the strength of the command/suggestion.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-07T20:57:42.243", "id": "6719", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-07T20:57:42.243", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1365", "parent_id": "6714", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Well, yes, that would be 英製和語. In written form, it should be understandable.\nHowever, if you said this in a conversation, somebody might not understand\nyou, so perhaps the following would be better:\n\n英語になった日本語\n\n[日本語から英語に入った借用語](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%B8%E3%81%AE%E5%80%9F%E7%94%A8)\n// From the wikipedia article\n\nAlthough, I don't think there is a general term since this phenomenon would\nonly be well understood by people who know Japanese and have lived in English\nspeaking countries.\n\n**EDIT**\n\nTaking the comments into account, I think the following might be the most\naccurate:\n\nアメリカ製日本語, イギリス製日本語, etc. depending on the country of origin\n\nHowever, like I said above, there isn't a common term for this.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-07T22:56:25.860", "id": "6721", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T20:32:55.413", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-08T20:32:55.413", "last_editor_user_id": "1217", "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6717", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "和製英語 means “a Japanese word which looks like a loanword from English but is\nactually made up in Japan,” and I think that you are looking for a word or a\nphrase which means “an English word which looks like a loanword from Japanese\nbut is actually made up in the English-speaking community.” I do not think\nthat there is a term which concisely describes this notion, in either Japanese\nor English. See Jesse Good’s answer and comments for some suggestions.\n\nThis is not the primary point of your question, but I do not think that “sake”\n/ˈsɑːki/ is analogous to 和製英語. English words typically do not have /e/ at the\nend, and it is natural to change it to /i/ to make it easy to pronounce. I\nthink that claiming that word “sake” was made up in the English-speaking\ncommunity is analogous to claiming that, say, word フットボール /ɸɯtːobo↓oɹɯ/ was\nmade up in Japan. If we called フットボール a 和製英語 because of the difference in\npronunciations, then most loanwords from English to Japanese would be called\n和製英語.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T00:28:01.043", "id": "6723", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T00:28:01.043", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6717", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I have often used [洋製日本語]{ようせいにほんご} as an opposite of 和製英語. During a Japanese\nclass during my study abroad program my professor was giving us a list of\n和製英語. I asked her if she knew of any 洋製日本語, and she responded that the only\none she could think of was \"futon\".\n\n[Here](http://somin.oheso.com/blog/002731.html) is another example of the term\nbeing used. It lists Japanese words that have become part of the English\nlanguage (e.g. shogun, tsunami, kamikaze, sake).\n\nI haven't seen this word in any dictionaries, and I doubt that it is a real\nword. It's not really a concept that exists in Japanese since it pertains to\nEnglish vocabulary (just as we don't have a word for 和製英語 in English). But\n洋製日本語 is a nice concise one-word way to say it, and most native speakers\nshould understand what it means.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-22T18:43:01.503", "id": "6890", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-22T18:43:01.503", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1575", "parent_id": "6717", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "(すごく古い質問ですが、偶然見つけたので)\n\nAlthough the number is small, there are some \"英製和語\" (an English word of\nJapanese-origin that has gained a significantly different **meaning** from the\noriginal Japanese word):\n\n * [Tycoon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_magnate): 大君【たいくん】 in Japanese is a dated word for _shogun_ , not a businessperson.\n * [Hibachi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibachi): Japanese 火鉢【ひばち】 is a small device primarily for heating a room. [鉄板焼き](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teppanyaki) is never called 火鉢.\n * [Satsuma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_unshiu): 薩摩【さつま】 is the old name of Kagoshima Prefecture. That fruit is always みかん in Japanese.\n * [Hentai](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hentai): 変態【へんたい】 is a \"pervert\" in Japanese, not a genre of anime/comic.\n * [Futon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futon): Western-style futon is probably a kind of ソファーベッド in Japanese.\n * [Banzai](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_thousand_years#Japan): 万歳【ばんざい】 itself never means \"suicide\" or \"reckless death/kill\" in Japanese, and 万歳する can mean quite the opposite, \"to surrender/give up\". However \"Banzai charge/attack\" is well recognized by Japanese people as the western name of (神風)特攻.\n * [Kombucha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha): IMO this is the king of 英製和語; Japanese 昆布茶【こんぶちゃ】 is completely different. I really wonder why this happened in the 21st century...\n\nThe following words have not changed in their essential meanings, but they are\nstill used in fairly different ways:\n\n * [Kaizen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen): 改善【かいぜん】 in Japanese simply means \"improvement\", and it usually does not refer specifically to a certain kind of business philosophy as described in English Wikipedia.\n * [Kanji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji): 漢字 in Japanese includes all \"Han\" characters used in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam (aka CJK ideographs).\n * [Ecchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecchi): This is a soft word (\"has sexual overtone\", \"suggestive\") in English, but is explicit in Japanese. エッチな本 is a direct word that refers to a porn book.\n\nI've made this list purely via internet search, so please correct me if some\nof these do not reflect the actual usage in English.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2014-09-03T06:48:32.100", "id": "18544", "last_activity_date": "2021-02-24T05:21:22.743", "last_edit_date": "2021-02-24T05:21:22.743", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "6717", "post_type": "answer", "score": 19 } ]

[ { "body": "It depends on the words and how they are pronounced, although the pattern you\nnoticed is common.\n\nFor example, the following don't fit the pattern you see:\n\n> Brad Pitt -> ブラピ\n>\n> Ice Cream -> アイス\n>\n> Convenience Store -> コンビニ\n\nThere has been a lot of linguistic studies about this and many patterns that\nexist. One rule is that they are always truncated to 2 to 4 mora. Also,\n[濁音]{だくおん} are avoided if possible and generally heavy syllables are avoided\nat the end.\n\n[Here is a link to one\npaper](http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/532-0802/532-0802-LABRUNE-0-0.PDF) if you\nare interested.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-07T22:35:44.950", "id": "6720", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-07T22:45:18.900", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6718", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "It is common to abbreviate a loanword to four morae, and when the original\nloanword is a compound word consisting of two components, then it is common to\ndo so by taking the first two morae from each component. Sometimes sokuon\n(little tsu: ッ) and chōon (ー) are skipped when counting two morae for this\npurpose.\n\n * リモートコントロール (remote control) or リモートコントローラー (remote controller) → リモコン\n * パーソナルコンピューター (personal computer) → パソコン\n\nSometimes the final sokuon or chōon after abbreviating is dropped, and this\nexplains ブラピ in Jesse Good’s answer and ハピバ in Tim’s comment on Jesse Good’s\nanswer.\n\nBut not every loanword is abbreviated like this, as Jesse Good already wrote.\n\nThis pattern is not really specific to loanwords. I have seen this pattern\napplied to the title of comics, video games, and TV programs. In some sense,\neven abbreviations such as [外国]{がいこく}[為替]{かわせ} to [外為]{がいため} may be viewed as\nan instance of the same pattern.\n\nBy the way, I do not think that ドンマイ is an abbreviation of something like\nドントマインド. It seems to me more like a transcription of the pronunciation of the\nphrase “Don’t mind” heard by Japanese speakers.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-07T23:40:43.897", "id": "6722", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T00:38:49.610", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-08T00:38:49.610", "last_editor_user_id": "15", "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6718", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I think you're just hearing two words that get said quickly and become slurred\nbecause they're so commonly used together. Human beings are lazy like that. I\nwould think that \"thank you\" sounds like one word to a non-native English\nspeaker :)", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T03:55:09.287", "id": "6725", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T03:55:09.287", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "921", "parent_id": "6724", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Another possibility is that the /g/ is being lenited into a voiced velar\nfricative /ɣ/, as is common between vowels in Japanese. (See [\"Handbook of the\nInternational Phonetic Association: Japanese\" by Hideo\nOkada](http://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_jpn_phon-2), or\n[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_phonology&oldid=506661712#Weakening).)\nFurther, since the second /g/ has rounded vowels (/o/) on both sides, it is\nlikely to be somewhat rounded (/ɣʷ/ = /w̝/).\n\nThe utterance, phonemically\n\n> /aɽígatoogozaimásu/\n\nthen would be something like\n\n> [àɽíɣàtoow̝ozaimás]\n\nJudging by your username, I'm guessing you're a native English speaker. Since\nmost varieties of English diphthongize /o/ to something like /ow/, and\nminimally distinguish vowel length, English speakers are likely less sensitive\nto the intervening [w̝] and to the extra-long vowel sequence /ooo/. So you\nhear the utterance as\n\n> /arigatoːzaimas/\n\nwhich would be transcribed as \"arigatōzaimasu\".", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T08:59:39.167", "id": "6728", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T08:59:39.167", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "501", "parent_id": "6724", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "It might have been おっす instead. According to [gogen](http://gogen-\nallguide.com/o/ossu.html), it's おはようございます that has undergone shortening to\nform おっす.", "comment_count": 6, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T09:06:50.527", "id": "6729", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T09:06:50.527", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "542", "parent_id": "6726", "post_type": "answer", "score": 17 }, { "body": "I've often heard \"おっす\" as a shorter version of \"おつかれさまです\". That'd be a\ngreeting you'd say after someone had a tough day, a long ride, or almost\nanything.\n\nIt can also be used is a very derogative sentence \"人生おっす!\" (jinsei, oss(u)!\"\nwhich I reckon is something like \"thank you for living until today, you now\nuseless piece of (…)\"\n\nNotice that in both cases, I think that it is _extremely_ informal, if not\nvulgar.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-10T02:42:20.157", "id": "6750", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-10T03:30:54.467", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-10T03:30:54.467", "last_editor_user_id": "356", "owner_user_id": "356", "parent_id": "6726", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 }, { "body": "It is おはようございます. When I was in university, students would often say it to me\nand I had to ask what it meant.\n\nThey would also say ちっす for こんにちは and わっす for こんばんは, but I think those are\nmore slangy.\n\nA similar one I often heard was あざっす for ありがとうございます.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T02:24:00.940", "id": "6803", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T02:24:00.940", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1394", "parent_id": "6726", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "There are a number of ideas for the origin of おっす. I first learned this term\nas rough greeting used by men to each other in Karate school, and had thought\nit quite manly till I heard a cute girl say おいっす in a joking fashion. Besides\nthe contraction of おはようございます as stated in the other answers, there is a more\nmartial origin listed as well:\n\n> Osu is a contraction of the words:\n>\n> 押し Oshi meaning \"Push\"\n>\n> 忍ぶ Shinobu meaning \"to Endure\"\n>\n> It means patience, determination and perseverance. Every time we say \"Osu\",\n> we remind ourselves of this.\n\nMy own two cents: I have seen guys say this to each other as a greeting in\nbars at night, where I would not hear おはようございます.\n\nHere is a link to two in-depth discussions:\n<http://tkdtutor.com/TOPICS/Concepts/Concepts/Osu/Osu-01.htm>\n\n<http://uskyokushin.com/osu.htm>", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T04:53:15.830", "id": "6808", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T05:12:58.513", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "706", "parent_id": "6726", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "My personal opinion on this (not backed up by any evidence) is that many of\nthe greetings end in す and I find that even when most people tend to say the\nwhole greeting you only tend to hear the last す syllable as people tend to\nstart quiet and get louder. My guess was that this written approximation, おっす,\ncame from there.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-10-25T09:44:04.010", "id": "8235", "last_activity_date": "2012-10-25T09:44:04.010", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1805", "parent_id": "6726", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "According to my dictionary (ウィズダム英和・和英辞典) 「おっす」 means\n\n> Howdy!; Hey (there)!; Hi!; ↗Morning! (!いずれも通例, 後に相手の名前をつける.\n> 後になるほど「おっす」から「やあ」「おはよ」ぐらいの意になる)\n\nUnfortunately, it does not give any etymological explanation, though.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-03-13T00:49:31.657", "id": "11453", "last_activity_date": "2013-03-13T00:49:31.657", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2964", "parent_id": "6726", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "From what I've learned, it comes from Judo. From experience, it is an\nextremely informal greeting used ONLY by males that is more of a joke than\nanything else. Similar to \"Yo!\" or \"Yo, man!\"\n\nOh!sssss.... oo!sssss.....", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-17T22:39:36.230", "id": "11904", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-17T22:39:36.230", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3505", "parent_id": "6726", "post_type": "answer", "score": -3 } ]

[ { "body": "1. Japanese speakers also use the strategy you describe, guessing at the 音読み from the right side of the 漢字 (or otherwise). However, the Japanese have a larger \"database\" from which to sample when making their guess...\n\n 2. & 3\\. I don't think these phonetic relationships are as obvious to native speakers as to foreign adult learners. The relationships are not part of the curriculum (I'm sampling from 小学校 years 1,2,3,5,6 here, maybe such relationships are studied in 中学校 or 高校?). Not emphasizing this seems silly from the perspective of the adult learner, but children learn the characters by repetition, rather than the more logical way of building up the language from the bottom (starting with the radicals and moving on to more and more complex characters)...\n\n`4.` Can't say anything about this, sorry.\n\nIn general the Japanese (just like anyone else learning a language as their\nnative language) do not think as structured about their language as you might\nexpect as a foreigner, who picked up the language as adult. A little curious\nfact is the following example, which I came across recently. The 醤 from 醤油 is\nnot 常用漢字 and authors of recipe books, for example, are not allowed (or advised\nnot to) use the 漢字 for 醤油. However, a similar 漢字 is the 奨 from 奨学金\n(scholarship), which _is_ 常用漢字 and the readings are identical and the written\n漢字 are so close that there is no extra effort for remembering both. Even if\none hadn't learned 醤, the most logical guess would be the reading ショウ, but\nthat's not how it works, it seems.\n\nP.S. Nice question, nothing wrong with it.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T09:29:56.833", "id": "6730", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T09:43:03.933", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-08T09:43:03.933", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6727", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 } ]

[ { "body": "I cannot answer the first question, but deciduous/milk/baby teeth is\n[乳歯]{にゅうし}.\n\n(Just a guess, but the reading かけば sounds like かけ + 歯(with rendaku), so I\nimagine it to be something like 欠け歯 but I cannot find anything to substantiate\nthis claim.)", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T14:19:29.607", "id": "6734", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T14:35:29.143", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-08T14:35:29.143", "last_editor_user_id": "542", "owner_user_id": "542", "parent_id": "6731", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Kanjigen lists `齔{シン}` (U+9F54) together with `齓{シン}` (U+9F53), and as far as\nI can tell the former is more common, though I'm not sure either are commonly\nused (I think `乳歯{にゅうし}` might be much more common to mean \"baby tooth\").\n\nIt says it can refer to:\n\n 1. (シンす) (verb/noun) The losing of teeth which occurs around the age of 7 or 8. Or, the teeth one has prior to having them replaced (`乳歯{にゅうし}`).\n 2. (noun) A child which is aged when one loses teeth. \n\nIt also links to a similar Kanji which means \"baby teeth\":\n[`齠{チョウ}`](http://jisho.org/kanji/details/%E9%BD%A0) (U+9F60), though I'm not\nsure that's particularly common either.\n\n[Kanjidic also defines](http://jisho.org/kanji/details/%E9%BD%94) `齔` (U+9F54)\nas \"losing baby teeth\"/\"child\" and [Unihan](http://www.unicode.org/cgi-\nbin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=%E9%BD%94) as \"lose baby teeth and get adult\nteeth\".", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T14:54:04.247", "id": "6737", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T23:51:36.687", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-08T23:51:36.687", "last_editor_user_id": "796", "owner_user_id": "796", "parent_id": "6731", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "The character in question was originally composed of 歯 (teeth) and 巳 (child).\nIt represented children's teeth. This later became 齔 and 齓. 齔 is typically\npreferred over 齓, so I will use it below. It has two primary meanings: 1) in\nchildren, the replacement of old teeth with new teeth; 2) children of an age\nin which they are loosing their old teeth and growing new ones.\n\nThere are several compounds:\n\n * 髫齔 (chōshin): a child around the age of 7 or 8\n * 齔髫 (shinchō): (in general) a child\n * 齔童 (shindō): children of an age in which they are loosing their old teeth and growing in new ones", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T15:49:48.953", "id": "6738", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T15:49:48.953", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6731", "post_type": "answer", "score": 16 } ]

[ { "body": "Other samples from this character in your manga would be helpful to confirm\nthis, but my guess is that せん is equivalent to しない (and possibly derived from\nせぬ, see Zhen Lin's comment below). Then, 苦労せん means something like \"don't\nworry\" or \"don't fret\". This is really part of the group of dialects from\n'Western Japan'. In particular, [九州弁]{きゅうしゅうべん} uses せんで for しないで or せんでいい for\nしなくていい etc.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T14:17:01.593", "id": "6733", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T14:47:43.130", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-08T14:47:43.130", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6732", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Actually, you've already got the right answer! The verb in question is する, and\n_one_ of its negative stems (未然形) is せ〜, as in せず, せぬ, and as you've just\ndiscovered, せん. The other negative stem of する is the well-known し〜. Note that\nthese are _not_ interchangeable: **せない is ungrammatical, as is **しず.\n\nThe only verbs that have this extra negative stem are する and its relatives.\nThe auxiliary verb 〜ます would be one of them if **〜ましない were grammatical, but\nit is not.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-08T14:50:43.877", "id": "6736", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-08T14:50:43.877", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "578", "parent_id": "6732", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 } ]

[ { "body": "But consider that \"good morning\" is but a cross-language approximation.\n\nLiterally, おはようございます means \"you are early\" (honorific お usually used when\naddressing the second-person as opposed to the first-person). So I expect it\nto be used also in situations where earliness is being described.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-09T14:25:10.207", "id": "6740", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-09T14:46:06.740", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-09T14:46:06.740", "last_editor_user_id": "542", "owner_user_id": "542", "parent_id": "6739", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "Apparently お早うございます & お休みなさい are used among family members but not こんにちは &\nこんばんは. At some work places people regard other workers as similar to family\nmembers and consequently avoid using expressions that are used with non-family\nmembers. お早うございます is used in place of こんにちは & こんばんは and hence used at any hour\nof the day or night.\n\n(This comes from _Nihongo notes 10_ (p. 48), published by the Japan Times,\nwritten by Osamu & Nobuko Mizutani. I have talked about this with people but\nnot really experienced it although as foreigners we are perhaps less likely to\nbe welcomed into the \"family circle\" so quickly with a less than usual\n_aisatsu_.)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-09T15:51:11.453", "id": "6741", "last_activity_date": "2016-11-29T06:55:42.597", "last_edit_date": "2016-11-29T06:55:42.597", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6739", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "おはよう or おはようございます is used when the time is considered as the beginning of a\nday in some sense. For example, if the addressee has just waken up, it is\nappropriate to use おはよう(ございます) even if it is not in the morning. On the other\nhand, if you stayed very late at workplace until 1 o’clock in the morning and\nmet a colleague who was likely to have done the same thing as you, you would\nnot say おはようございます, because it is considered to be the continuation of the day\nbefore rather than the very early period of a day.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-09T16:25:17.267", "id": "6742", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-09T16:25:17.267", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6739", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "おはようございます is often used as a start greeting in work situations, whatever time\nit may be, as opposed to the end greeting おつかれさまです.\n\nI know it's used in the TV and entertainment industry (it was the question of\na quizz), and I've heard teachers use it to welcome their pupils as late as\n19:30.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-10T02:34:12.020", "id": "6749", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-10T02:34:12.020", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "356", "parent_id": "6739", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I was taught that おはようございます when not used as a morning greeting, is basically\nsaying 'hello, this is the first time seeing/meeting you today'. This is\nsomething that can be difficult to understand to anyone new to the language.\n\nLet me give an example: It's 10PM and a group of 'friends' enter a bar, and\nthe bar tender, whom they are close to, welcomes them in and they all say おはよう\nto each other. This would be strictly translated as hello/hi/hey. Now\nunderstanding the greeting of おはよう/おはようございます as 'you are early', is more like,\n\"Hello, I am seeing you for the first time today\".\n\nIt can be temping as a speaker of English to take this phrase only as good\nmorning. I have traveled to Japan and I remember I was walking down a busy\nstreet around 9PM to hear a man say おはようございます to someone. I was very confused\nat the time, but after learning more about the use of おはようございます, I have\nlearned that it is very common in Japan to use おはようございます if someone is meeting\neach other for the first time that day.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2016-09-08T15:12:16.983", "id": "39058", "last_activity_date": "2016-09-08T15:12:16.983", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "17777", "parent_id": "6739", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "Names of Japanese people have a specific spelling that may be in hiragana,\nkatakana, kanji, or any mix thereof. You should spell their name as it is\nspelled, e.g. 「田中けい子」 (TANAKA Keiko).\n\nNames of foreigners are written in katakana, unless they have decided on the\nequivalent kanji they want to use. Or if they ask you to choose the kanji then\ndo so paying attention not only to sound but also meaning when selecting them.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-09T21:15:24.203", "id": "6745", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-09T21:15:24.203", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "22", "parent_id": "6744", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "You should keep in mind writing non-japanese names with kanji COULD be seen as\nsomewhat not in very good taste. While it's there's no universal rule about\nit, since some people might see it as ranging from childish to culturally-\ninsensitive, I'd keep using exclusively katakana for foreign names.\n\nStraying a little from your question, it's generally a nice idea to write\nnames in whatever script and with whatever spelling they originally are\nwhenever possible.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-09T21:47:43.997", "id": "6746", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-09T21:47:43.997", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1695", "parent_id": "6744", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Write Japanese names the way how the person who has that name writes it. If\none wants you to write her name as 玲奈 or 麗奈, write it that way. If she doesn't\nwrite it with kanji, then write れな. If she prefers katakana, then write レナ. A\nname might use more than one writing system, such as はる香 or マナ美 (I made those\nup, but very possibly exists somewhere). Using the wrong writing system for\nnative Japanese names is just, plain dong it wrong.\n\nSo, if you don't know kanji, unfortunately you do have to learn them before\nyou could correctly write Japanese names, since practically all Japanese names\nhave kanji in them.\n\nFor non-Japanese people, especially those with Western names, the usual way is\nto transliterate their names into katakana. If you only know katakana, I\nsuppose you could write their names correctly.\n\nHowever, if a person has a name written in Chinese characters in his/her\nnative language (i.e. a person with Chinese or Korean name), write it with\nkanji. The exception is when the person's name contains rare and uncommon\nkanji (especially when typing); in this case one has to resort to using\nkatakana - simply because these characters might not be typable.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-03-09T13:12:20.653", "id": "44238", "last_activity_date": "2017-03-09T13:12:20.653", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "19346", "parent_id": "6744", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "I am sure someone could give a more comprehensive answer but it is usually the\nsame as the difference between nation/state and country in English eg\n\n> 国々 ｜countries\n>\n> 国家 ｜nation\n>\n> 国家的 ｜national\n>\n> 警察国家｜a police state\n>\n> 福祉国家｜a welfare state\n>\n> 国家の政策｜national policy\n\n国 also has a few \"domestic\" uses, which I imagine go back to the time when\npeople in Japan rarely travelled overseas and they might refer to areas of\nJapan as \"countries\" (this is somewhat paralleled in other \"nations\" such as\nthe UK where people in regions such as Cornwall might see themselves apart\nfrom the rest of the nation, even though they are not referred to as countries\nsuch as Scotland or Wales) hence in Japanese :\n\n> 国の習慣 = local customs\n>\n> 国へ帰る : can mean ”go back to one's birthplace/ふるさと [古里／故郷]”\n\nAnd of course there are parts of Japan with 国 in the name such as 中国 ＆ 四国", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-10T02:06:46.547", "id": "6748", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-10T06:26:16.640", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6747", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "> Question 1: Are these two things about right? I assume that using うすい\n> changes little in the meaning. What I gather is that the わたし is talking\n> about the 商人's fragility.\n\nI can't be completely sure without more context, but the first assumption is\nincorrect, and therefore the second point too.\n\nThis particular usage is commonly seen in mystery stories or in a similar\nsetting. [dictjuggler's translation\ncorpus](http://www.dictjuggler.net/yakugo/?word=%E7%B7%9A) has this example:\n\n```\n\n 共犯者の線も濃厚だ: evidence of an accomplice is definitely there\n \n```\n\nMy understanding of this collocation is:\n\n```\n\n 線 line of reasoning\n が is\n うすい/濃い weak/strong\n \n```\n\nThe closest sense listed in Daijisen for\n[線](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E7%B7%9A&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=1)\nis \"6. 物事を行う道筋・方針\" (policy, principle), and for\n[うすい](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%86%E3%81%99%E3%81%84&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=1&index=01469500&pagenum=1),\n\"3-5. 可能性があまりない\" (slim possibility).\n\n```\n\n それにな、わたしが商人の線がうすい、といった理由はもうひとつある。\n And also, there's another reason why I said it's unlikely that the merchant is the culprit.\n \n [culprit] ------> [merchant]\n うすい\n \n```\n\n(I'm wildly guessing here that there's some kind of crime involved.)\n\n> Question 2: Is there a clear etymology here?\n\nI'm not sure how or why this usage came to be. You could get away with\nexchanging 線がうすい for 線がほそい behind the reader's back, and your intention will\neventually get through, but they'll either do a double take, or just\nunconsciously replace it with the more natural collocation.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T17:24:52.447", "id": "6776", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T17:24:52.447", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "128", "parent_id": "6752", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "I figure I may as well try to answer my own question:\n\n * The [ニコニコ大百科 page for 凸](http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E5%87%B8) says this 凸{とつ} comes from that the reading is the same, so I think it's likely it's just that it's easier to input than 突{とつ}. \n\nHowever, I might speculate the popularity of\n[お凸{でこ}](http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E3%81%8A%E3%81%A7%E3%81%93) may have added\nto the popularity of 凸{とつ}, and apparently misreading 凸{とつ}待{ま}ち as 凸{でこ}待{ま}ち\nis a fairly common mistake (before asking this question I thought it was read\nthat way too).\n\n * [This page](http://bosesound.blog133.fc2.com/blog-entry-169.html) says the meaning of 凸待ち is \"waiting for somebody to 'phone attack' them\" (\"誰かが電凸するのを待っている状態\"), so I think that's probably the origin of this phrase. I think it's likely tongue-in-cheek, as a lot of internet slang is.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-24T03:07:59.120", "id": "6906", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-24T03:07:59.120", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "796", "parent_id": "6753", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "* 創始者 is a founder in intellectual terms, e.g.\n\n> 密教の創始者は空海です。\n\n * 創業者 is the founder of a store or shop (related to work, rather than business), e.g.\n\n> 僕のおじいさんがこの魚屋の創業者なんだよ。\n\n * 創設者 is the founder of a business/company, e.g.\n\n> ソニー株式会社の創設者は盛田昭夫と井深大です。\n\n * 創立者 is the founder of a building/place (but could also be used for businesses, which would give it the nuance of associating the business with a place), e.g.\n\n> 高井戸小学校の創立者は山田景子です。", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-10T12:03:11.713", "id": "6755", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-10T12:03:11.713", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6754", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "The latter half of your translation is right. Working from your newly\ncorrected sentence:\n\n自分の事しか考えぬおまえには...\n\n自分の事 is literally \"one's own things\". 事 is often used with verbs like 考える to\nmean \"(everything) about\", so in this case 自分の事を考える is \"to think about\noneself\". The noun suffix しか means (when coupled with a negative verb ending)\n\"nothing but\", so 自分の事しか考えぬ is \"to think about nothing but oneself\". This\nwhole phrase is being used to describe おまえ. So the first half of the sentence\ncomes out something like \"to [someone like] you, who never thinks about anyone\nbut themselves, ...\" (with bits in [square brackets] added just to make it\nsound better English).\n\nI'm not familiar with the idiom enough to tell you what the sentence actually\nmeans without context. Perhaps it's \"you're so busy thinking about yourself\nthat you don't even notice the simplest things about the rest of the world\n(e.g. that ice melts)\", but that's a guess.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-10T18:11:35.977", "id": "6760", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-10T18:11:35.977", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1699", "parent_id": "6756", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "Potential verbs are much more common than passive form. However, keep in mind\nthat in speech it is very common to use ら抜き言葉 also.\n\nFor example:\n\n> 来られる #1\n>\n> 来れる #2\n\nSome people actually believe that #1 is passive and #2 is potential, while\nothers would say that #1 is _both_ passive and potential (which is the way the\nstandard dialect (東京弁) deems it).\n\n> This question may seem strange, but I need to know, as there is an ichidan\n> ambiguity between Potential and Passive forms, so to make a more or less\n> proper decision which one form is which.\n\nYou should generally be able to distinguish the two from context quite easily.\nHowever, you are also missing another possibility. The られる form can also be\nused as the pollite form, which is neither passive nor potential.\n\nFor example:\n\n> 明日行かれますか?\n\nThe above should be interpreted as 敬語 and not passive.\n\nHowever, going back to the passive forｍ again, I believe that one common\nmistake for Japanese learners is the _overuse_ of the passive form were the\nactive form would be more appropriate. This happens because other languages\n(such as English) use the passive form more often and in situations were\nJapanese people would use the active form instead.\n\nExample 1:\n\n> ニュースに驚いた <\\-- Not passive\n>\n> I was surprised at the news. <\\-- Passive\n\nExample 2:\n\n> These cookies were made by her yesterday.\n>\n> これらのクッキーは昨日、彼女によって作られました。 #1\n>\n> 彼女が昨日これらのクッキーを作りました。#2\n\nIn the above example, #1 is a closer translation to the English equivalent.\n_However,_ it should be known that while the English is quite natural\nsounding, #1 would be awkward in everyday speech and it is most likely that a\nJapanese person would use a similar sentence like #2.", "comment_count": 10, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-10T22:13:08.970", "id": "6761", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T01:05:32.860", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1217", "parent_id": "6757", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I believe the most common thing to do with sandwiches is use つ.\n（サンドイッチを３つもらえますか？） There probably is a correct counter for loaves of bread,\nbut I don't know it, and again I think つ is more common.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-10T16:48:34.650", "id": "6759", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-10T16:48:34.650", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1699", "parent_id": "6758", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "At first the counting system might seem quite random. But rather than\nwondering whether there is a counter for blocks of cheese, or for objects\ncontaining slices of ham, a better strategy might be to use the counter you\nalready know (and the first one you should know is つ) and take it from there.\n\nThat is to say, you start out by saying サンドイッチ2つ. When you learn about the\nusage of other counters, you may choose to use サンドイッチ2個 or even サンドイッチ2切れ\n(depending on the type of sandwich) and this last one is probably the most\nelegant way of saying \"2 sandwiches\", if you are thinking of those cut\ntriangles.\n\n切れ works for slices of ham, because the ham is cut. Similarly, it works best\nfor sandwiches, which are cut (like triangles or in whatever other way), and\none half, then, would be 1切れ. In Japan most sandwiches are made, and then cut,\nwhich allows you to see the filling. If your sandwiches aren't cut in half,\nyou might get away with 切れ, because the bread and the ham are cut, but 個 (or\nつ) might be more natural...\n\n枚 works for slices of bread, but not really for sandwiches, because sandwiches\ncontain multiples layers themselves. 枚 works best for things, which are flat\nand are essentially one layer. But then, it all depends on the sandwich. If\nyou were to make a flat sandwich from pita bread (which you cut open, rather\nthan cutting it into two halves) with, say peanut butter and honey, then 枚 may\nwell be appropriate.\n\nOn the other hand, Middle Eastern style sandwiches (e.g. filling rolled up in\nlavash bread) might accommodate 本, etc.\n\nIn my mind, the better strategy is to start with the counter and see what\nobjects you can count with this counter, rather than to start with an object\nand see what counters are allowed to count that object.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T00:19:31.277", "id": "6764", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T01:49:00.850", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-11T01:49:00.850", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6758", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Instead of giving you a long boring answer...I'll get to the facts. Yes you\ncan use just the **~つ** counter but the **~こ** counter works just as well.\nlike **いっこ、にこ、さんこ** and so on. This counter is used for round objects (like\ncheese wheels,sandwiches,balls,etc...). Hope this helped!", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-04-11T02:36:47.227", "id": "15380", "last_activity_date": "2014-04-11T02:36:47.227", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5133", "parent_id": "6758", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "A loaf of bread is called 斤(kin) in general.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-04-14T10:17:31.510", "id": "15413", "last_activity_date": "2014-04-14T10:17:31.510", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5081", "parent_id": "6758", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "頼り is the noun form of verb 頼る (tayor-u), and here 頼り means a thing/person to\ncount on. Examples:\n\n> 君だけが頼りだ。 I can only count on you. \n> 地図を頼りに家を探す look for the house with the help of a map (This example is from\n> [Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E9%A0%BC%E3%82%8A&stype=1&dtype=0&dname=0na);\n> the English translation is by me.)\n\nIn general, AをBにする means “turn A into B.” Setting B=頼り, Aを頼りにする means “turn A\ninto ‘something to count on’,” or in more natural English, it means “count on\nA.”\n\n(Well, strictly speaking, Aを頼りにする does not turn anything into something\ndifferent, but AをBにする is used even in this case. Another example of this usage\nis 遠足を楽しみにする (look forward to the picnic); see\n[Daijirin](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=1),\nsense 【2】[5].)\n\nIn your case, A is not specified. I am a little bit fuzzy here, but I think\nthat by default, 頼りにしている means あなたを頼りにしている. Therefore, Google Translate is\ncorrect in this case: it means “I am counting on you.”", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T00:11:30.933", "id": "6763", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T00:11:30.933", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6762", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "To start with, 頼りにしている does translate as \"(I'm) counting on you\" or \"(I'm)\nrelying on you\".\n\nBasically in this case it's saying that the speaker is in this situation of\nrelying on someone for something. \"I am relying on you to bring back my\nlibrary book, because otherwise I'll get a fine\". It's describing the speakers\n_state_.\n\nThe second point I'd like to make is that it might be easier for you to break\nup 頼りにしている into components. 頼りにする is its own unit (頼む==>ます-stem + に + する).\n@Tsuyoshi Ito has explained it really well.\n\nAnother grammar point is ～ている, which is really handy to know know and learn,\nand it has various meanings depending on how it's used. It's basically the\nて-form, plus いる which is \"to be\" (for living things).\n\n* * *\n\nIn general there are two uses to describe one's state for the ～ている grammar\npoint. One that describes something that is happening now (drinking tea), and\nthe other describes something that happened in the past, and is still true in\nthe present (being married).\n\n> 今はお茶を飲ん **でいます** 。 (I'm) drinking tea right now.\n\nvs\n\n> 田中さんは結婚し **ています** 。 Tanaka is married.\n\nThis could get a little ambiguous sometimes in a sentence like this:\n\n> 私は日本語を勉強し **ています** 。 I'm studying Japanese (right now) / I study Japanese\n> (at school)\n\n* * *\n\nThe third use for ～ている is to describe something habitual.\n\n> 毎日、新聞を読ん **でいます** 。 I read the paper every day.\n\n* * *\n\nNow, I'll leave you with a bunch of links for more information on ～ている:\n\n * [Wikibooks](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japanese/Grammar/%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B)\n * [These](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3262/does-v%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B-always-mean-an-action-already-completed) \\- [JLU](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3122/when-is-v%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B-the-continuation-of-action-and-when-is-it-the-continuation-of-state) \\- [Questions](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5505/stative-verbs-%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B%E3%80%80vs%E3%80%80%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A6%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E3%80%80vs%E3%80%80%EF%BD%9E%EF%BC%88%E3%82%89%EF%BC%89%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B)\n * [renshuu.org](http://www.renshuu.org/index.php?id=16&page=grammar/individual)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T00:20:49.103", "id": "6765", "last_activity_date": "2021-12-11T07:10:57.970", "last_edit_date": "2021-12-11T07:10:57.970", "last_editor_user_id": "30454", "owner_user_id": "921", "parent_id": "6762", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "The way I interpret that sentence is:\n\n> バブル経済（バブルけいざい、economic\n> bubble）とは、概ね不動産や株式をはじめとした時価資産の資産価格が投機によって実体経済の経済成長以上のペースで高騰し続け、\n> **投機によって支えなければならない市場が、投機によって支えきれなくなるまで** の経済状態を指す。\n>\n> An economic bubble denotes economic conditions where, due to speculation, a\n> steep increase in the present value of assets including to a great extent\n> real estate and stocks continues at a pace exceeding the growth of the\n> actual economy, and _the market which must be sustained by speculation ends\n> up becoming unsustainable by speculation_.\n\nBasically what I think it's trying to say is the speculation leads to a\nvicious cycle that can't be sustained.\n\n**Edit:** Tried to fix the translation.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T05:36:01.493", "id": "6768", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T07:25:40.370", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "796", "parent_id": "6767", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "In the olden days Japanese scholarly works were written in\n[漢文](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanbun), which is basically Classical\nChinese. Together with a set of annotation rules (e.g. \"read the next two\ncharacters backwards\", \"insert a particle here\", etc.) it was possible to\ntranslate/transcribe the resulting Chinese text into Japanese.\n\nNowadays, it would still be possible to render Japanese in 漢文, but would\nrequire an easy translation. As modern Chinese is quite different from\nClassical Chinese, finding a translation from 漢文 into Chinese is usually non-\ntrivial.\n\nIf the text you are considering was indeed written in 漢文, then you just need\nto consider how close a modern Chinese translation would be to Classical\nChinese, which you probably know better than me. (As Axioplase points out, if\nthe text was written in 万葉仮名, then \"kanji-heavy\" means very little and the\nanswer is less obvious.)\n\nI have read 五輪書 in English and a good part of it in Japanese. Any bigger book\nstore here in Tokyo will have a copy in contemporary Japanese and most also\ncarry the traditional text. I find the contemporary text easier to read, but\nthe traditional text is also quite readable. Although 五輪書 is not written in 漢文\nitself, the text is very close to the Japanese that would have stemmed from a\n漢文 \"translation\" into Japanese. That is to say, a translation into\n漢文/Classical Chinese would be quite faithful to the original text. How close\nthat is to modern Chinese, I cannot say.\n\nPersonally, I didn't really like the English translation, so if I were able to\nspeak Chinese, I would give the Chinese translation a shot before trying to\nread the English translation again...", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T06:55:18.067", "id": "6770", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-27T08:53:31.463", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-27T08:53:31.463", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6769", "post_type": "answer", "score": 14 }, { "body": "It may be impossible to do with old texts written in 万葉仮名 (man'yôgana), which\nis to say that chinese characters where used only for their phonetic value,\nnot their meaning…\n\nWithout proper boundaries to the question, the answer ranges from \"kind of\" as\nuser1205935 said, to \"not at all\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T07:00:19.097", "id": "6771", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T07:00:19.097", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "356", "parent_id": "6769", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "…といったらない means “… is extraordinary.” Examples from [Progressive J-E\nDictionary](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84&dtype=3&dname=2na&stype=0&pagenum=1&index=02973300):\n\n> 突然のことだったから，驚いたといったらなかった It was quite unexpected, so you can imagine how\n> surprised I was. \n> それを聞いたときの彼の顔といったらなかった His face was a study when he heard it.\n\nAs you can see, it can take both a clause and a noun. In your case, both\n恐ろしいといったらなかった and 恐ろしさといったらなかった are grammatical.\n\nI personally feel that using a clause is colloquial, and in formal context, I\nwould say\n\n> 突然のことだったから，驚いた **こと** といったらなかった\n\ninstead of the former example from the dictionary, but I do not have anything\nto back up my feeling.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T13:24:43.373", "id": "6775", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T13:24:43.373", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6772", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "It is relatively gentle, and a good way of allaying fears or dispelling\nmisconceptions.\n\n> お邪魔みたいですので、これで失礼しますね… It seems like I'm interrupting you, so I'll see myself\n> out... そんなこと（は）ないですよ Not at all! / Don't be silly! / No such thing!\n>\n> かなり怖い人だそうですけど… I heard he's quite a scary person... \n> そんなことない Not at all.\n\nIf by your last question you mean can the \"thing\" be a person, I would say no.\nWhen you start making the \"thing\" a literal object instead of a fact, そんなものはない\n(there is no such thing [here]) fits better, and for people, そんな人はいない (there\nis no such person [here]).", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T12:50:08.923", "id": "6774", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T12:50:08.923", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "315", "parent_id": "6773", "post_type": "answer", "score": 14 } ]

[ { "body": "\"OB\" and \"OG\" mean \"Old boy\" and \"Old girl\" respectively. \"Old boy/girl\" means\nan alumnus of something, or a previous member -- usually in reference to a\nschool or club.\n\nSo for this example, it says \"By meeting with an OB/OG, they arrange an\nappointment...\". Although I'm not sure if the OB/OG here is one from their\nschool (who has already gone through 就職活動 themselves) or of the company they\nare applying to, though the former seems to make more sense.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T23:29:04.127", "id": "6779", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T23:29:04.127", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "6778", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "OB (オービー): \"old boy\", a male graduate of a school, alumnus, alumni\n\nOG (オージー): \"old girl\", a female graduate of a school, alumnus, alumni", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-11T23:29:58.243", "id": "6780", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-11T23:29:58.243", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6778", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Your \"usual rule\" is incomplete. It should be:\n\n 1. drop -i\n 2. if resulting is a single mora in length, add -sa\n 3. add -sou.\n\nHence, nai:\n\n 1. na\n 2. na + sa\n 3. na + sa + sou --> nasasou.\n\natui:\n\n 1. atu\n 2. (not applicable)\n 3. atu + sou --> atusou.", "comment_count": 8, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-12T02:16:22.430", "id": "6783", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-25T03:52:39.233", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-25T03:52:39.233", "last_editor_user_id": "1527", "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6782", "post_type": "answer", "score": 18 }, { "body": "Well, in first place there are possible confusions depending you are referring\nto ない as a [助動詞]{じょどうし} or 無い as a [形容詞]{けいようし}.\n\nIn the case of \"It seems there is none\", なさそう will be 無い adjective\n[連用形]{れんようけい} + そうだ [助動詞]{じょどうし}。\n\nIt seems that when そうだ was first introduced at Muromachi period, なそう was used\nbut as な is only one syllable, さ was added through time.\n\nIt has nothing to do with なさいません which is the negative form of [為]{な}さる verb.\n\nFor information, in the case of ない as a [助動詞]{じょどうし}, なそうだ is used:\n\n> 彼はお酒を飲まなそうだ。\n\nBut recently, さ is sometimes added:\n\n> 彼は来な(さ)そうだ。", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-11-23T07:53:35.527", "id": "9551", "last_activity_date": "2018-09-25T16:34:28.367", "last_edit_date": "2018-09-25T16:34:28.367", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "1868", "parent_id": "6782", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "Written Japanese contains a syllabary (like an alphabet) called Kana. All of\nthe \"letters\" in this syllabary, with the exception of the \"letter\" \"N\" (ん/ン)\nend in a vowel. Thus anytime a foreign word ends in a consonant (with the\nexception of \"N\"), it is natural for a Japanese speaker to pronounce this\nconsonant with a vowel after it. This is not a question of suffix usage but a\nquestion of pronunciation. Note that all the words you listed have a\npronunciation that ends in a consonant (the e in rope and type are not\naudible).\n\nSee: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kana>", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-12T17:35:29.613", "id": "6786", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-12T17:47:36.677", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-12T17:47:36.677", "last_editor_user_id": "706", "owner_user_id": "706", "parent_id": "6785", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "The very rough outline of the pattern is as follows:\n\n> -n -> Nothing added. \n> -t, -d -> Add -o. \n> -s -> A phonemic -u is added, but is often not pronounced. \n> -tch(-ch) -ge -> A phonemic -i is added, but is often not pronounced. \n> -k(-c/-ck), -g, -z, -f, -b, -p, -m, -r, -sh -> Add -u.\n\nWhat I write as -u is really a close back vowel [ɯ], which is what you\ntranscribe as -eh and -uh.\n\nSo the general rule is to add -u. The reason some endings add others, like -o,\nis that some combinations of sounds, like 'tu' and 'du', don't exist in\nJapanese traditionally (although they have appeared because of foreign\nloanwords).\n\nFor the ones adding -i, I have less confidence, but I would think it is\nbecause -tch and -ge sound palatized, and \"chi\" and \"ji\" are palatized in\nJapanese, contrary \"chu\" and \"ju\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-13T04:00:48.950", "id": "6789", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-13T04:00:48.950", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "6785", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Building on what the other answers gave, but adding a bit more detail:\n\nJapanese's \"syllables\" are known as \"mora\". One mora consists of at least a\nvowel and possibly preceded by a consonant. (They're not quite syllables, as\ntwo mora can combine to make one syllable). This makes Japanese a **moraic**\nlanguage.\n\nA consonant following a vowel in a syllable is known as a **syllable coda**.\nJapanese lacks any representation for a syllable coda in its set of phonemes,\nsince every consonant is always followed by a vowel (with a notable exception\nof the \"n\" sound, which is relatively new in the Japanese syllabary). For this\nreason, transcribing a syllable coda into Japanese usually requires an -u\nsound. In normal spoken Japanese, an -u is usually barely pronounced when it\ncomes at the end of a word. In anime, you've probably heard a lot of \"desu\"\nand \"masu\" at the end of sentences, pronounced as \"dess\" and \"mass\",\nrespectively. So the following words are transcribed as follows:\n\n> wife => waifu \n> propose => puropozu \n> rice => raisu \n> ice => aisu\n\nBut \"t\" is an exception to this. The [タ行]{ta-gyou}'s -u syllable sounds like\n\"tsu\", rather than \"tu\". So the closest thing to a terminal \"-t\" coda is \"to\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T00:54:10.037", "id": "6798", "last_activity_date": "2017-05-27T17:34:55.353", "last_edit_date": "2017-05-27T17:34:55.353", "last_editor_user_id": "1575", "owner_user_id": "1575", "parent_id": "6785", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "This may not be a direct answer to your question.\n\nI think the passive is not used as much in Japanese, because it is not as\nnecessary. In English, the passive is used when we want to talk about \"the\narmed forces\", say, but not about who dispatched them.\n\n> The government dispatched the armed forces. _active_\n>\n> The armed forces were dispatched. _passive_\n\nGrammatically, we turn the object of the active sentence into the subject of\nthe passive sentence and omit the subject of the active sentence. (We could\nrecover it by appending \"by the government\", but that construction is somewhat\ncumbersome and far less frequent than the active, I would say.)\n\nIn Japanese, even the active voice doesn't need the subject though\n(grammatically speaking), and I would say that most if not all \"する verbs\" are\narranged so as not to require an object, cf.\n\n> dispatch _sth._ vs. 出動する\n\nIt is also interesting that the passive voice in Japanese is only used when\nthe action is performed by a human being (or animal, I suppose). For all other\nactions, there are transitive/intransitive verb pairs, e.g.\n\n> The window was opened (by the wind).\n>\n> (風で)窓が開いた。\n\nand _not_\n\n> 窓が(風に)開けられた。\n\nI would say that, while in English, the passive voice is used to take the\nfocus away from the subject of the active sentence, in Japanese, the passive\nvoice leaves the focus of the action on the person performing the action,\nwhereas the emotional focus is on the subject/topic of the passive sentence.\nFor example, in English we have\n\n> The police searched my bags.\n\nand possibly\n\n> My bags were searched by the police.\n\nalthough the former sentence sounds clearer.\n\nIn Japanese we have\n\n> 警察が僕のカバンを調べた。\n\nand\n\n> 僕はカバンを警察に調べられた。\n\nThis second sentence feels like I was searched more than my bags. The latter\nhas a more emotional component to it, which can be strengthened by using しまう,\nas in\n\n> 僕はカバンを警察に調べられてしまった。\n\nSo all in all, I would say that the passive in English plays a very different\nrole than the passive in Japanese. You don't need to use the passive in\nJapanese, but may choose to do so, if you want to focus on the emotional\naspect of being subject to (no pun intended) usually an unpleasant situation\nperformed by a living being (cf. あぁ、笑われちゃった! or 蚊に食われた!). To state an\nobjective fact, don't use the passive.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-13T02:48:40.103", "id": "6788", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-13T07:10:21.877", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6787", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I've found answering the phone at work follows a fairly fixed pattern.\n\nI would answer the phone with something along the lines of:\n\n> 株式会社ZのYYと申{もう}します。 \n> This is company Z, MR Y speaking.\n\nor just with the company name.\n\n> 株式会社Zでございます。 \n> This is company Z.\n\nAfter they introduce themselves and said their \"お世話になっております\". You generally\nreply with something similar :\n\n> お世話{せわ}になっております。\n\nIf they ask for someone who is away from their seat (but probably return soon)\nyou can say something like:\n\n> 申{もう}し訳{わけ}ないですがXXさんは席{せき}を外{はず}しておりますが... \n> I'm very sorry but he has left his seat...\n\nAt that point they will either ask when he will be back, or say they will call\nback later.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-13T05:57:12.140", "id": "6791", "last_activity_date": "2015-05-21T07:44:51.677", "last_edit_date": "2015-05-21T07:44:51.677", "last_editor_user_id": "1608", "owner_user_id": "1608", "parent_id": "6790", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Two cases:\n\n 1. You answer saying \"もしもし、JLU(の)クマーです\", and the other person realises immediately you're not your boss\n\n 2. First, just say もしもし, let them introduce themselves, and then reply something like \"あ、どうもありがとうございます。申し訳ないのですが、現在部長が席を外してますが…\"", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-13T08:20:05.763", "id": "6792", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-13T08:20:05.763", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "356", "parent_id": "6790", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "I think that it is simply a typo for “自分たちの,” unless it is a dialectal\nvocabulary which I am not aware of.\n\nThe usage to indicate exasperation which you mentioned in the question\nprobably refers to [the たら which was originally\nといったら](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&index=112293400000&pagenum=1),\nbut たら in your example cannot be this word because this word cannot be\nfollowed by case particles such as の.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-13T21:52:21.447", "id": "6795", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-13T21:52:21.447", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6794", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "I am a native Japanese speaker so I think I have been properly differentiating\nthese two words unconsciously, but I couldn't really articulate what makes\nthem different, so I looked up. Here I briefly summarize the article cited\nbelow.\n\nThe difference between 得意 and 上手 can be illuminated most when you translate\ninto Japanese the following sentence: \"This novel is well written.\"\n\n> この小説は上手に書けている。\n>\n> この小説は得意に書けている。\n\nWhile the former is perfectly natural, the latter is simply wrong. This is\ncontrasting with the sentence from the OP. The question is, why the\ndifference?\n\nIt appears that 得意 is used to describe the (good) skills to do/produce\nsomething, while 上手 is used to describe the results of the (good) skills put\nto use. In the example above, the former sounds natural since the novel is a\nproduct of the writer's skill. On the other hand, the latter does not make\nsense since the novel itself is not a skill; it's a product of a good skill.\nPerhaps, a similar reasoning leads a somewhat rigid Japanese language teacher\nto think that 私はパソコンが上手だ to be technically wrong, since a personal computer is\nnot a product of skill itself.\n\nHowever, I find it's totally natural to hear that sentence myself. After all,\nmany Americans say \"I don't have no money.\" While it's grammatically\nincorrect, it sounds natural and accepted to a certain group of people, right?\n:P\n\nSeriously, in a way, 私はパソコンが上手だ is perfectly natural since you could argue\nthat here it's totally expected that パソコン means パソコン（を使うこと）, and a variety of\nskills can lead to using a computer well, such as drawing on Photoshop,\nprogramming games, making music, using Excel, etc. So the reason why we feel\nthe usage is natural could be because our notion of using computer has\nchanged. Computer can do a lot of things, and we attach a lot of different\nmeanings to (using) computer. Just my feeble thought...\n\n参照元: <http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/jpn_npa?sn=28>", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T08:19:44.430", "id": "6810", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T08:19:44.430", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1692", "parent_id": "6796", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "As for yesterday, compared with today, the people are few. (There were fewer\npeople yesterday than there are today.)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T01:11:19.363", "id": "6800", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T01:11:19.363", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1699", "parent_id": "6799", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "Basically, \"affirmation+じゃない(です(か))?\" (notice the question mark), and\n\"affirmation+じゃん!\" (notice the exclamation mark) is an informal way to\nemphasize the affirmation.\n\nTherefore, when you hear \"おはし上手じゃん!\" or \"この歌を歌えるじゃないか？\", it means something\nlike \"aren't you in fact good at it?\" and \"I thought you said you couldn't\nsing it!\"\n\nThe more formal way to say it is \"のではないか.\" It's a negative question, like\n\"isn't it XX?\" : \"いいのではないか？\" (isn't it great?). But it's also often used in\nmore colloquial situations: \"いいじゃん!\" (it's great, mate!)", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T01:47:17.213", "id": "6802", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T01:47:17.213", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "356", "parent_id": "6801", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "脳裏 and 目の奥 are often used with 焼き付く as in\n\n> 脳裏に焼き付いた。\n\nand are referring to an event, which has been etched into your brain or onto\nthe back of your eyes. Hence, the latter is used for visual impressions,\nwhereas the former can be used for any type of impression. Both are _strong_\nimpressions, which are unforgettable.\n\n頭の隅 corresponds to the back of your mind, as for example in\n\n> これを頭の隅に入れといてください。また今度詳しく説明します。 \n> Just keep that in the back of your mind for now. I will explain it in more\n> detail next time.\n\nand is used for facts which are allowed to be forgotten, but which might help\nyou make connections later on.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T04:49:37.663", "id": "6807", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-27T06:44:05.370", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-27T06:44:05.370", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6805", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "ですな is a version of ですね and is decidedly masculine speech for males over 40\n(would go well with わし, for example, but can be used on the internet as a joke\nby anyone, of course).\n\nThere is also\n\n> いい天気ですの\n\nor, even better,\n\n> いい天気じゃの\n\nwhich is even stronger than ですな in the sense that it would really only be used\nby males over 60.\n\nThe ageless equivalent is ですね in all cases.\n\nP.S.: ～ますな has the same nuance as ～ですな, whereas plain form + な is decidedly\nless restrictive. 食べたいな, 面倒くさいなぁ, よく食べるな, etc. can be used by anyone,\nregardless of gender or age.", "comment_count": 8, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T05:01:57.927", "id": "6809", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-17T02:52:00.990", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-17T02:52:00.990", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6806", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "おる here is a formal mode for いる/ある.\n\non this see for example:\n<http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080610223934AAl5OVt>\n\n大手を振る literally mean to wave, shake your open arms(大手), that is the gesture\nyou do when you have something to bragging about. A more literal translation\nwould be:\n\n> A world where you can brag about/being proud about your high rating, no\n> matter what...", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T13:34:26.640", "id": "6812", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T14:06:13.260", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-14T14:06:13.260", "last_editor_user_id": "60", "owner_user_id": "60", "parent_id": "6811", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "おる is a less common variation of いる. While I do not think that it is\nincorrect, I do not know why the quoted sentence uses おれば instead of いれば (or\nおけば as Hyperworm suggested).\n\n[大手を振る](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E5%A4%A7%E6%89%8B%E3%82%92%E6%8C%AF%E3%82%8B&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0)\n(sense [2]) describes how a person behaves proudly (without being ashamed of\nanything).\n\nI would translate\n\n> 視聴率さえとっておれば、どんな\"やらせ\" をやろうとも、メディアの責任を考えればモラルに反すると思うことをやっても、大手を振ることが出来る世界\n\nas:\n\n> A world where they can live without shame while they fake facts and do\n> things which seem to be against ethics given the responsibility of mass\n> media, as long as they have a high audience rating\n\nI have to say that the translation into English which you quoted is sloppy.\nWhere did メディアの責任 and 大手を振る go?\n\nMoreover, just in case, I recommend you _not_ to consider that the quoted\nJapanese sentence is well written. I think that it is written carelessly for\nat least the following two reasons: (1) it is unclear _who_ is thinking in\nメディアの責任を考えればモラルに反すると **思う** ; (2) やらせ is apparently one of the\nメディアの責任を考えればモラルに反すると思うこと, and therefore listing these two in parallel does not\nreally make sense.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T13:58:54.900", "id": "6814", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T13:58:54.900", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6811", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "Yes, it is the potential form of 書く in the progressive.\n\nThese phrases are often used in the form 上手に/よく+[verb in potential form]. By\nitself, the potential form indicates that you are able to do something, and in\ncombination with 上手に/よく, it means you did it well.\n\n> よく読めた (praising a primary school kid on his 音読 reading out loud)\n>\n> 上手にできた etc.\n\nThe progressive is used for saying that the result is well written. `よく書けたね`\nwould mean more the act of writing was well done, but says little about the\nresult... There have been questions on the usage of the progressive tense with\nwell-written answers. I'll try to find a link and post it here.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T14:39:30.330", "id": "6815", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T14:39:30.330", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6813", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "子ども seems appropriate. If you want to be a tad more polite/considerate use\ntheir name: 真紀子ちゃん/健太郎君 for girls/boys under 10 and りんさん/正吉さん for girls/boys\nover 10.\n\nお子さん is used for addressing the parents, not the child directly.\n\n> お子さんは何人いらっしゃるんですか。\n\n子 by itself seems quite direct and is best reserved for parents talking about\ntheir own children.\n\n> この子は本当にお利口だから、助かるのよ。", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T14:57:10.217", "id": "6817", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T15:02:39.257", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-14T15:02:39.257", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6816", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "The concept is from Chinese. In Chinese, 風 was principally \"wind\", but wind\n(and by extension changes in temperature) was also believed to be the source\nof various aliments to the physical body.\n\nThe Japanese word kaze originally only meant \"wind\". The sense \"(sickness)\ncold\" was influenced by Chinese. Note though that it originally was not\nlimited to the cold but also included other sicknesses as well. The word 風邪\nwas typically read as fūja and simply meant \"bad wind\". It was not until a\nlittle more than a hundred years ago that these kanji were used express kaze\n\"cold\". (It is ateji.)\n\n中風 and 痛風 are medical aliments borrowed from Chinese. Note that 中風 is rather\nliteral in meaning: 風に中る (kaze ni ataru), to meet with (be struck by) the\n(bad) wind.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-14T21:46:37.623", "id": "6819", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-14T21:46:37.623", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6818", "post_type": "answer", "score": 28 }, { "body": "The wind in Chinese means that the illness comes suddenly. It means \"Sudden\".\nBoth 中風 = stroke, and 痛風 = gout, attack patients suddenly.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2019-09-06T23:31:49.980", "id": "70613", "last_activity_date": "2022-08-02T15:51:12.757", "last_edit_date": "2022-08-02T15:51:12.757", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "35288", "parent_id": "6818", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "切る and 切れる are a transitive/intransitive pair. 書く and 書ける are not.\n\n> Is there by any chance an equally easy reason why 切れる is used in the above\n> compound verbs?\n\nYes. Again it is about transitivity.\n\n * `チケットが売り切れる` \\- Tickets are sold out. No overt agent is performing the action, no direct object; `売り切れる` is intransitive. Contrast against `～を売り切る`.\n\n * `だれがそれを言い切れるだろうか` \\- Who can say/declare that certaintly? (This is not intransitive even though `切れる` is used. This should be the potential form of transitive `言い切る`.)\n\n * `会話が途切れる` \\- The conversation comes to a halt. No overt agent is performing the action, no direct object; `途切れる` is intransitive.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-15T07:42:26.810", "id": "6822", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-15T07:48:21.073", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-15T07:48:21.073", "last_editor_user_id": "542", "owner_user_id": "542", "parent_id": "6820", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "From the excellent [A Dictionary of Basic Japanese\nGrammar](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/4789004546)\n\n> Vmasu+方 means either \"way\" or \"manner\". Thus 飲み方が大事です means either \"The way\n> of drinking is important\" or \"The manner in which one drinks is important\"\n> so you have to provide additional context. To put into context:\n\n * この[薬]{くすり}は[飲]{の}み[方]{かた}が[大事]{だいじ}。[必]{かなら}ず[食前]{しょくぜん}に[飲]{の}んでください。[It is important to know how to take this medicine. Be sure to take it before every meal]\n\n * スープは[飲]{の}み[方]{かた}が[大事]{だいじ}です。[In eating soup the manner (in which one eats it) is important]\n\nThe important part below:\n\n> 方 can be replaced by 方法 but only when 方 means \"a way of doing something\". 方法\n> roughly corresponds to the English word \"method\"; it means a relatively\n> complicated way of doing something", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-15T09:51:35.023", "id": "6824", "last_activity_date": "2013-07-27T02:20:28.813", "last_edit_date": "2013-07-27T02:20:28.813", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "399", "parent_id": "6823", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 }, { "body": "From your comment:\n\n> What exactly is the difference between \"how to eat soup\", \"way of eating\n> soup\" and \"manner in which one eats soup\"?\n\nMaybe someone has a habit of letting his soup cool before drinking, and he\nalways has his soup in this manner because he doesn't like it piping hot. This\nis his way of drinking soup. Or he always stirs the soup exactly 3 times\nbefore drinking. This is his way of drinking soup. I believe this corresponds\nto 飲み方, a rather generic \"way of doing\".\n\nNow for 方法, I believe that this refers to a more methodical, didactic type of\n\"way of doing\". For example, the 方法 of drinking soup could be something like:\n\n 1. Apply hand to spoon\n 2. Raise spoon \n 3. Approach soup\n 4. Slowly push down at the soup with the spoon \n 5. Stop when spoon (but not hand) is covered with soup\n 6. Raise the spoon\n 7. If nothing happens, turn the spoon over and repeat steps 3 to 6\n 8. If nothing happens, hold the other end of the spoon and repeat steps 3 to 7.\n 9. Approach mouth with spoon\n 10. Close mouth when spoon(but not all of it) is inside, and remove the soup from the spoon.\n 11. Swallow\n 12. Repeat steps 3 to 11 until desired quantity of soup has been consumed.", "comment_count": 8, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-15T15:02:44.257", "id": "6825", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-15T15:02:44.257", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "542", "parent_id": "6823", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Isn't the difference between 〜方 & 方法 much the same as the difference between\n\"way\" and \"method\" in English (basically a way is method but method is usually\nused when describing a more complicated, systematic process).\n\nIf you take a look at the definitions in English you will find the same\ndifference between the two Japanese expressions in the others' explanations:\n\n> **way** (noun) a method, style, or manner of doing something : worry was\n> their way of showing how much they cared | there are two ways of approaching\n> this problem.\n>\n> • a person's characteristic or habitual manner of behavior or expression :\n> it was not his way to wait passively for things to happen.\n>\n> • ( ways) the customary modes of behavior or practices of a group :\n> foreigners who adopt French ways.\n>\n> • [in sing. ] the typical manner in which something happens or in which\n> someone or something behaves : he was showing off, as is the way with\n> adolescent boys.\n\nBy contrast:\n\n> **method** (noun) a particular form of procedure for accomplishing or\n> approaching something, esp. a systematic or established one : _a method for\n> software maintenance | labor-intensive production methods._ \n> • orderliness of thought or behavior; systematic planning or action :\n> historical study is the rigorous combination of knowledge and method.\n\nYou can experiment with different expressions in Japanese (eg やり方 vs やり方法）but\nit might be more productive to get on top these and then comeback when you\nhave more practical experience using the two expressions.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-16T00:39:52.000", "id": "6830", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-16T00:46:51.043", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-16T00:46:51.043", "last_editor_user_id": "1556", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6823", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "To try to provide a very clear explanation based on what I've read above, in\ncase I understood it right...\n\n〜方 : This is someone's idiomatic way of doing something. Manner, style... Not\n'method' or 'means'.\n\n方法 : This is \"how something can be accomplished\", \"a way to get to the desired\noutcome\" with no regard for any personal style or idiom.\n\nThere are probably cases where it's a bit muddy as tends to be the case with\nanything.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2021-05-30T17:09:59.190", "id": "86904", "last_activity_date": "2021-05-30T17:09:59.190", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "44123", "parent_id": "6823", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "Yes, [来]{き}おる is a combination of [来]{く}る and [居]{お}る, although 居る in this\nusage is usually written in hiragana in the modern Japanese. Adding おる after\nthe continuative form of a verb usually means that the speaker is looking down\nupon the subject of the verb. See sense 〔2〕-[2] in\n[Daijirin](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%8A%E3%82%8B&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&index=102829400000&pagenum=1)\nand sense 3-① in\n[Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%8A%E3%82%8B&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=0&pagenum=1&index=02640800).", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-15T19:44:16.170", "id": "6829", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-15T19:44:16.170", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6826", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "<http://www.kanjinetworks.com/eng/kanji-dictionary/online-kanji-etymology-\ndictionary.cfm>", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-15T18:43:19.037", "id": "6828", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-15T18:43:19.037", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1699", "parent_id": "6827", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "After asking this question I think I've found a lot of the answer:\n\n * [Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E6%8F%90%E6%A1%88&stype=0&dtype=0)+[Dajirin](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E6%8F%90%E6%A1%88&stype=0&dtype=0&dname=0ss) list 提案 as applying to legislative bills, opinions and thoughts etc, so I think it's broader than 申し出. It's also listed as \"suggestion\" by the [Yahoo J-E dictionary](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E6%8F%90%E6%A1%88&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=3)/[Space ALC](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E6%8F%90%E6%A1%88&pg=1) etc.\n * The [Yahoo J-E dictionary](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E7%94%B3%E3%81%97%E5%87%BA&enc=UTF-8&stype=0&dtype=3) lists 申し出 as \"a proposal ((of cooperation))\"/\"offer\", so I think it's used when proposing to cooperate (with other people etc).", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-16T05:29:12.327", "id": "6832", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-16T10:41:11.840", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-16T10:41:11.840", "last_editor_user_id": "796", "owner_user_id": "796", "parent_id": "6831", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "> How did the two forms come about?\n\nThe original imperative did not end in -yo or -ro. In [Old\nJapanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Japanese), it took the following\nform: upper monograde: -i1, upper bigrade: -i2.† To this, an emotive -yo may\nbe added, but it was optional.\n\nDuring the transition to [Early Modern\nJapanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Modern_Japanese), the 上代特殊仮名遣い\ndistinction 1/2 was lost. This resulted in confusion between the irrealis and\nimperative for mono/bigrade verbs, which both now ended in either -i or -e.\nThe solution for this was to require the emotive suffix -yo to the end of the\nimperative, which then became mandatory for mono/bigrade verbs and as such is\nnow inseparable.\n\nThe -ro suffix found in volumes 14 and 20 of the Man'yōshū, which are the\nchapters covering the eastern dialects. Usage is identical to western -yo.\nLike emotive -yo, an emotive particle -ro may also be found. (cf #3552)\n\n> What is the difference in usage of the imperatives? When will one form be\n> used over the other? Or what determines the preference?\n\nWith the propagation of the Tōkyō dialect, -yo forms sound old and even\nformal. As such, you will typically find the -yo forms in written materials\n(test instructions etc) while the -ro forms in spoken discourse.\n\n†Monograde (一段) is a verb conjugation type characterized by the irrealis (未然形)\nand adverbial (連用形) both ending in -i (上) or -e (下). The 1/2 (甲乙) notation\nindicates two different phonologically sounds. For example, there were two\ntypes of ki: /ki1/ and /ki2/. One phonetic reconstruction for this *ki and\n*kɨ. (The * indicates a reconstruction.) This difference cannot be be written\nin kana. Look up 上代特殊仮名遣 for further details.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-16T17:40:06.100", "id": "6835", "last_activity_date": "2021-11-23T05:18:31.363", "last_edit_date": "2021-11-23T05:18:31.363", "last_editor_user_id": "30454", "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6833", "post_type": "answer", "score": 14 } ]

[ { "body": "っこ is a suffix that attaches to verbs (in 連用形). It means の事 or する事. It is most\ncommonly found in the form of っこない which expresses a strong denial as in\n絶対…しない or …するはずがない. This may also be っこなし. It typically indicates multiple\npeople are involved in the activity. Here it means \"there will be no running\naway\". The next line continues with: 「いいとも。どんなお化けが出るか、この目で、しっかり見てやろう」 (Fine.\nI'll [stay] and see what kind of monster appears.)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-17T00:35:34.173", "id": "6837", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-17T00:35:34.173", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6836", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 }, { "body": "Consulting [Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch/0/0na/05873300/), `っこ`\nmeans `…のこと` or `…すること` (as in `〜慣れっこ` \"being used to\" etc) according to sense\n(1)(1).\n\nDaijisen also lists in sense (1)(2) \"an action done mutually with two or more\npeople\" as in [`とりかえっこ`](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/161070/m0u/) \"an\nexchange\" or sense (1)(3) \"an action where two or more people compete\" as in\n`駆けっこ` \"race\"/\"sprint\".\n\n* * *\n\nA common usage of `っこなしにしよう` might be like this example from the [Kenkyuusha\ndictionary](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E8%A8%80%E3%81%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%93%E3%81%AA%E3%81%97):\n\n> このことは誰にも言いっこなしにしましょう. お分かりいただけますね. \n> Let us keep it (strictly) to ourselves. I hope you understand.\n\n* * *\n\n * `〜っこなし` = `〜（のことなし・することなし）` which I think here means \"not (do)ing\".\n * `〜にする` = \"go with\"/\"decide to\" and `〜にしよう` means \"let's go with\"/\"let's decide to\".\n * `〜逃げっこなしにしよう` = `逃げ（のことなし・することなし）にしよう` = \"let's go with not running away\"/\"let's decide on not running away\".\n\nSo from there:\n\n> 「いいか、この最後のローソクが消えたら、本当のお化けが出るかもしれん。だが、どんなお化けが出ようと、お互いに逃げっこなしにしよう」 \n> \"Look here, if this last candle goes out, there could be an actual _Obake_\n> that appears. But, whatever the sort of _Obake_ that should appear, let's\n> together decide on not running away.\"\n>\n> 「いいとも。どんなお化けが出るか、この目で、しっかり見てやろう」 \n> \"All right. Whatever the sort of _Obake_ that appears, let's sit tight and\n> witness it with our own eyes.\"\n\n([`この目で見る`](http://eow.alc.co.jp/%E3%81%93%E3%81%AE%E7%9B%AE%E3%81%A7%E8%A6%8B%E3%82%8B/UTF-8/)\n= \"[see/witness] [firsthand/with our own eyes]\" etc.)\n\n* * *\n\nConsulting the `日本語文型辞典`, another common usage of `っこ` in the form of `っこない`\nis to strongly negate the chances of something happening. It's used in\ninformal speech and is close to `絶対…しない`, `…するはずがない` and `…するわけがない`, for\nexample:\n\n> いくら彼に聞いても、本当のことなんか言いっこないよ。 \n> \"However much you ask him, [there's no way he'll/he absolutely won't] tell\n> the truth.\"\n\n**Edit:** Tried to fix various mistakes.", "comment_count": 6, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-17T02:29:00.910", "id": "6838", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-18T11:58:55.187", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "796", "parent_id": "6836", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "[漢文](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanbun) (Classical Chinese) is taught in 高校\n(at least at most private schools). Thus most Japanese should be vaguely\nfamiliar with the ideas of 漢文 (reading characters backwards, inserting\nparticles, etc.), but this is not enough to be able to read 漢文 properly.\nStill, just by looking at the characters, the Japanese will be able to extract\nsome meaning, of course.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-17T05:54:09.390", "id": "6840", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-17T05:54:09.390", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6839", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I looked through a recent センター国語 past test (a standard test for college\nadmissions) and there was a 漢文 section. So it appears at least colleges expect\nthis, which suggests it should be somewhat common knowledge.\n\nThis\n[wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_Test_for_University_Admissions)\narticle says 漢文 counts for 25 percent of the 国語 section.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-17T16:32:04.427", "id": "6841", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-17T16:32:04.427", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "878", "parent_id": "6839", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "I am not sure if I understand the question, but I will give it a shot.\n\nAs you observed, 化ける means “to transform,” and 化け in 化け物 and お化け is its noun\nform. (I do not know which of 化ける and 化け comes first historically, though.)\n化け物 or お化け is supposed to be the result of transformation of a human, an\nanimal, or a thing, often after the human or the animal dies or the thing is\ndiscarded.\n\nSuch transformation is not necessarily only about its _appearance_ ; after\ntransforming, an animal is often supposed to become larger or stronger, a\nthing is suppose to be able to speak, and so on, and they often do harm to\nliving humans.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-17T23:05:53.187", "id": "6843", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-17T23:05:53.187", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "15", "parent_id": "6842", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I think those words come from 化身, which ancient Japanese believed that any\nform of nature has a spirit in it. And sometimes a spirit moves into another\nentity and it's called 化身。\n\nIf you've ever seen 祈禱, which is a kind of Shamanism and a ritual to call\nspirits, the meaning of 化身 might be imaginable. Not all 祈祷 are doing it\nthough. And the shaman becomes some kind of God or a spiritual entity during\nthe ritual.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-19T15:46:32.670", "id": "6855", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-19T15:46:32.670", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1720", "parent_id": "6842", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "This may seem too obvious, but...\n\n * 責任を取る is to _take_ responsibility (actively)\n * 責任を負う is to _bear_ responsibility (with a negative, burdensome connotation)\n * 責任を持つ is to _carry_ responsibility (more neutral than bearing responsibility)\n * 責任がある is to _have_ responsibility (objective fact of having an obligation, e.g. legally)\n\nFor the bonus question, I think these are _all_ the different ways of saying\nsomething similar to \"to take responsibility\". 負う by itself means \"to bear\"\nand is not necessarily related to responsibility, e.g.\n\n> 傷を負う \n> to be injured / to sustain an injury\n>\n> Cf. 傷が付く \n> to get injured.\n\nHowever, in the negative, we have the negations of the above, but also\n\n * 無責任, which characterizes someone who has no sense of responsibility, e.g.\n\n> 君は本当に無責任だな。 \n> You really have no sense of responsibility.\n>\nwhich is quite different from 責任が無い.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-18T07:11:25.537", "id": "6847", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-18T14:22:03.263", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-18T14:22:03.263", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6844", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "You do not need anything. Just list their title and add desu.\n\n * This is my dad: 父です or オヤジです。\n * These are my parents: 両親です。\n * This is my friend (female): 友達です。\n * This is my manager: マネジャー（上司）です。", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-18T05:04:34.790", "id": "6846", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-18T05:04:34.790", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6845", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "The alternative to これ in polite Japanese conversation is こちら (you should find\nit in most 初級Japanese text books on how to introduce yourself.)\n\nTo implement this （borrowing Dono's answer） I would say:\n\n> こちらは私の父です。 This is my father. \n> こちらは私の両親です。These are my parents. \n> こちらは私の友達、由美子です。This is my friend Yumiko. \n> こちらは私のマネジャー（上司）です。This is my manager.\n\nYou can even use this to introduce yourself on the phone:\n\n> [あの..]こちらはABCのVenkatesh Kumarですが[いつもお世話になっております。]\n\nThe stop gap alternative to referring to people by pronouns (he/she/you etc)\nis to use their name. You would attach the suffix (さん etc) according to the\nrelationship between you, your 相手 and your colleague.friend etc.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-18T14:53:24.117", "id": "6848", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-18T14:53:24.117", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "6845", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "**こちらは** 田中さんです。(He is Mr.Tanaka) こちらは is polite way to say he or she", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-19T09:52:21.970", "id": "6854", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-19T13:06:44.653", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-19T13:06:44.653", "last_editor_user_id": "921", "owner_user_id": "1389", "parent_id": "6845", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Simply, yes, `で` is just the `〜て` form of `だ`. You could get into a whole\ndiscussion on this, but we can see the parallels between them.\n\n### Connecting\n\n> * イ-adjective: 大きく **て** 強い → Big and strong\n> * ナ-adjective: きれい **で** 頭がいい → Pretty and smart\n>\n\n### Means/instrumentality\n\n> * Verbs: 行っ **て** くる → Go and come back (\"Come back by means of (first)\n> going\")\n> * Nouns: お箸【はし】 **で** 食べる → Eat by using chopsticks\n>\n\nAs I said, this is an overly-simplistic answer, but I don't have time right\nnow to jump into all of it.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-18T16:02:44.793", "id": "6850", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-18T16:08:44.820", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-18T16:08:44.820", "last_editor_user_id": "78", "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "6849", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Without additional context, this sounds like a newspaper headline or something\nsimilar. In which case, the `へ` would act as \"to\" or \"toward\", implying the\ndirection the Telefonica company will take in their business. Something like\n\n> \"Telefonica to head toward product investment next year\"\n\nAgain, if it's a headline or something, the verb is omitted yet implied.\nProbably something like `向かう` ~~or`移動する`~~ would be appropriate; although if\nit were the latter, the `する` would also likely be omitted\n\n> 来年にはテレフォニカが製品投入へ（向かう） or \n> ~~来年にはテレフォニカが製品投入へ（移動（する））~~", "comment_count": 8, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-18T16:15:10.537", "id": "6852", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-21T01:48:17.000", "last_edit_date": "2012-09-21T01:48:17.000", "last_editor_user_id": "78", "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "6851", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "It looks like these are all related to the meaning \"fork\", except for 夜叉,\nwhich appears to use the character for its sound.\n\n * 三叉路 The road _forks_ , going three ways\n * 音叉 A tuning _fork_\n * 叉焼 (Meat) roasted on a _fork_ [(Wikipedia link)](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC#.E4.B8.AD.E5.9B.BD.E3.81.AE.E5.8F.89.E7.84.BC%5d)\n\nIt appears that 夜叉 is a phonetic transcription of Yakṣa [(Wikipedia\nlink)](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%9C%E5%8F%89), using 叉 for its\nsound. I don't know why those characters were chosen specifically.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-19T22:01:54.513", "id": "6857", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-19T22:01:54.513", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "6856", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "There are two categories of words here: 1) 三叉路, 叉焼, 音叉 and 2) 夜叉.\n\nIn the first category, 叉 is used for its semantic value: a fork. In 三叉路, this\nis a path or road that branches in three directions like the shape of a Y. In\n叉焼, it is the pronged fork that the pork is attached to for cooking. In 音叉, it\nis the U-shaped fork used in tuning sounds.\n\nAs for the second category, it has nothing to do with the semantic meaning of\nthe character but rather the phonetic value. In 夜叉, it is being used to\ntransliterate the Sanskrit word yakṣa (यक्ष).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-19T22:02:04.407", "id": "6858", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-19T22:02:04.407", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6856", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "It is a genitive marker that is connecting two noun phrases. This is the\ntypical, most common usage of the particle. You may interpret it as \"A no B\"\nmeaning \"A of B\" or \"A's B\".\n\nIn this phrase, it is (sore nanoni) no ((iikae) ya (betu no iikata)), \"a\nchange in wording or another way of saying [the expression] 'sore nanoni'\".\n\nNote though the second -no. This is the same usage as the first, which you\nseem to not be having trouble with. It is poor style. The writer could have\nmade it more clear by putting quotes such as 「」 around the sore nanoni.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-20T12:25:43.470", "id": "6860", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-20T12:25:43.470", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1141", "parent_id": "6859", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "という as \"said, called thus\" is composed of\n\n * the quoting particle と\n * the verb 言う\n\nE.g.\n\n> アルジュナという戦士はバガヴァッド・ギーターの主人公です。 \n> The warrior (who is called) Arjuna is the protagonist of the Bhagavad Gītā.\n\nHere the sentence アルジュナと言う modifies the noun 戦士, which is usually translated\nwith a relative clause.\n\nThe sentence you quote is a little less straight-forward, but uses the same\nconstruction. Compare\n\n> それはすぐに改良を必要とします。 \n> That needs some improvements straight away.\n>\n> それは改良を必要としますが、すぐにということではありません。 \n> That needs some improvements, but is not something to be done immediately.\n\nThe すぐに of the second (original) sentence refers to the immediacy of the need\nfor improvements.\n\nThe long version would be\n\n> それは改良を必要としますが、すぐに改良を必要(とします)ということではありません。 \n> That needs some improvements, but it is not the case that we are dealing\n> with something, which needs improvements straight-away.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-20T14:34:58.697", "id": "6863", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-20T14:53:39.343", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "6862", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 }, { "body": "ということ has a number of different meanings depending on context. Here I think it\nhas the meaning of \"means\", or という意味:\n\n> それは改良を必要としますが、すぐにという（こと・意味）ではありません。 \n> That needs improvement, but that doesn't mean (that it has to be done)\n> right away.\n\nI think it's similar to this example from\n[Tatoeba](http://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/218656):\n\n> これはあまり自分を守ろうとすると、かえって大きな間違いをおかすことになるだけだ、ということです。\n>\n> This means that if you try to protect yourself too much, you will only make\n> bigger mistakes.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-20T15:10:40.010", "id": "6866", "last_activity_date": "2016-02-21T08:51:29.740", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "796", "parent_id": "6862", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I think the other answers are correct. Here is another parsing of the\nsentence:\n\n> それは改良を必要としますが、すぐにということではありません\n\nIn natural English:\n\n> That needs improvement, but it doesn't need improvement right away.\n\nA more literal translation:\n\n> That needs improvement, but not \"right away\" (improvement) .\n\nAnd here is my attempt at something approaching a word for word translation,\nto more clearly see how the sentence is parsed:\n\n> それは改良を必要としますが、すぐにということではありません\n>\n> That > improvement is needed (but), right away {to say such a thing} is not\n> the case.\n\nNote that ということ turns すぐに into the noun (or こと/thing) that gets negated by\nではありません, or more explicitly, という makes すぐに into the こと that gets negated by\nではありません.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2012-09-20T17:32:56.800", "id": "6868", "last_activity_date": "2012-09-20T21:13:48.323", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "706", "parent_id": "6862", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]