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p1atdev

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japanese-stackexchange

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[ { "body": "No, it isn't borrowed. The etymology of the word comes from モロコシ, which was\nintroduced to Japan earlier from China.\n\nWhen maize was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese, it was noticed that it\nlooked similar to sorghum (モロコシ, 蜀黍, 唐黍). The prefix とう was added to indicate\nit was the _foreign_ good type instead of the (also foreign, but earlier)\nsorghium.\n\nモロコシ as mentioned comes from 唐黍. The kanji 唐 or 唐土 in kana was もろこし, c.f. 唐土人\n(meaning Chinese) もろこしびと. 黍 is of course, きび. Overtime, 唐黍/もろこしきび became just\nもろこし. So the maize, with the とう prefix, became とうもろこし(きび).\n\nSince it is based on Chinese, there's also kanji for that word; 玉蜀黍. At first\nthe second 唐 was replaced 蜀 to avoid a silly looking name like 唐唐黍. Then the 唐\nprefix was also switched out for 玉, because of its green (outer) colour.\n\nBut like most fruits and vegetables, it is generally written in kana today\nanyway.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-12T13:38:51.427", "id": "17400", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-12T14:39:47.863", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-12T14:39:47.863", "last_editor_user_id": "5522", "owner_user_id": "5522", "parent_id": "17398", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Adding on to Semaphore's answer.\n\n## Etymology\n\nThe word トウモロコシ is a compound of _tō_ + _morokoshi_. The _morokoshi_ part is\nolder, so let's look at that first.\n\n### Etymology of the _morokoshi_ part\n\nShogakukan's _Kokugo Dai Jiten Dictionary_ states that _morokoshi_ is the\n_kun'yomi_ of the word 諸越 ( _on'yomi_ of _shoetsu_ ). This term came out of\nChinese, and originally meant something like \"all those Yue\", a synonym for 百越\nor \"[the Hundred Yue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Yue)\", an ethnic\ngroup in the south of China that formed the [state of\nYue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_%28state%29) during the [Spring and\nAutumn period](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_and_Autumn_Period) in\nChinese history.\n\nWhen this term was first imported into Japanese, there was relatively active\ntrade with the Yue region, roughly corresponding to modern [Zhejiang\nprovince](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhejiang). Over time, Yue became\ncommercially less important to Japan, and so the Japanese term came to refer\nnot just to Yue, but to China as a whole. As the [Tang\nDynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_dynasty) became the main power in\nChina, the older _kun'yomi_ of _morokoshi_ was applied to the new kanji 唐 that\nreferred to the Tang, and to the compound word 唐土 that referred to the land of\nthe Tang.\n\n_Morokoshi_ (now spelled 唐) was used as a label or prefix for all kinds of\nthings that were brought over to Japan from China. 唐黍 ( _morokoshi kibi_ ) or\n\"Chinese millet\", i.e. sorghum, was one of those things. The Chinese word for\nsorghum was 蜀黍 ( _on'yomi_ of _shokusho_ , literally \"Shu millet\", referring\nto various states of Shu in southwestern China in the area of modern [Sichuan\nprovince](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan)), and the _kun'yomi_ of\n_morokoshi kibi_ was also applied to this word. The term _morokoshi kibi_ was\neventually shortened just to _morokoshi_ , but the kanji spelling was kept as\neither 唐黍 or 蜀黍 when used in reference to sorghum.\n\n### Etymology of the _tō_ part\n\nMaize was introduced to Japan in 1572. By that time, the term _morokoshi_ was\nmore strongly associated with sorghum than with China, and the word 唐 (with\nthe _on'yomi_ of _tō_ ) had replaced _morokoshi_ as the all-around prefix\nreferring to China and Chinese goods. As Semaphore notes, this meaning was\nextended to refer to anything foreign that was imported from abroad.\n\n## Appearance\n\n[Sorghum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum_bicolor) and\n[maize](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize) really do look quite similar in\nsome ways. The image on the left (or top if on a phone) is sorghum with seed\ndeveloping. Note the leaves and stalks look a lot like maize, shown on the\nright (or bottom).\n\n \n\nThis similarity is probably what prompted Japanese folks seeing maize for the\nfirst time to think, \"hey, that looks kinda like that other plant,\n_morokoshi_.\"\n\n## Putting it together\n\nAs such, when Japanese folks saw maize, they saw something that looked like\nsorghum, and that came from abroad, so they called it \"foreign sorghum\" --\ni.e., 唐 ( _tō_ ) 唐黍 or 蜀黍 ( _morokoshi_ ). The change in kanji, and the shift\nto kana spelling, are just as Semaphore explains.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-12T21:18:54.843", "id": "17408", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-13T05:18:08.783", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-13T05:18:08.783", "last_editor_user_id": "5229", "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17398", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "建てる is a generic \"to build\" a building.\n\n築く is a word that had its roots in building a castle; specifically, piling up\nsoil and rocks for a foundation. So, this is \"to build\" in the sense of\nstacking materials (e.g. stones) into something large, solid, firm. Such as a\ncastle or a dyke.\n\nThat sense of putting something together step by step, gave rise to the\nmeaning of \"building up\" things such as wealth, status, relationships, or even\nan organisation. Example: 幸せな家庭を築く.\n\nOther words of similar \"to build\" meaning:\n\n 1. 建設する - use for large scale projects like roads, buildings, etc; infrastructure projects\n 2. 建築する - this is also a generic \"to build\" similar to 建てる, but not for very small buildings\n 3. 建造する - \"to build (ships)\", and also dykes, bigger buildings or other larger works", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-12T19:14:14.607", "id": "17406", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-12T19:20:27.763", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-12T19:20:27.763", "last_editor_user_id": "5522", "owner_user_id": "5522", "parent_id": "17402", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "**住みたい** means \"want to live\" and **is the default choice**.\n\n**住んでいたい** is its progressive form and **is used when there's some sense of\nprogression** , which works best when you're _already_ living where you want\nto live \"progressively\".\n\nOne overlap of usage is, e.g.\n\n> 1. ずっと東京に住みたい。\n> 2. ずっと東京に住んでいたい。\n>\n\nThis is not a perfect analogy, but in English we have roughly corresponding\n\n> 1. I want to live in Tokyo forever.\n> 2. I want to be/keep living in Tokyo forever.\n>\n\nThe second sentence can really only be said by someone already living in\nTokyo, with a strong attachment to Tokyo. The first would usually be used by\nsomeone, who wishes to _move_ (and live) in Tokyo. When the first sentence is\nused by someone already living in Tokyo, then it might suggest a more neutral\nintention.\n\nJust for reference, searching the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written\nJapanese, I find\n\n> 住みたい 133 results \n> 住んでいたい 5 results (without false positives) \n> 住んでたい 0 results\n\nOf the 5 examples with 住んでいたい, 3 were using ずっと or いつまででも and all were\nreferring to people already living where they want to be/keep living.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-12T18:19:21.087", "id": "17405", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-13T09:50:23.837", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-13T09:50:23.837", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "17403", "post_type": "answer", "score": 18 }, { "body": "Apart from the idea to \"keep living where you're already living\", which has\nbeen suggested in other answers, you can also use 住んでいたい as an ongoing\nprogressive action at some point in the future.\n\nE.g. if you live in Tokyo now, you can say\n\n> 五年後は沖縄に住みたい (suggesting you want to move there in 5 years) \n> 五年後は沖縄に住んでいたい (you might move tomorrow or in 4 and a half years, but 5\n> years from now you want to be living in Okinawa)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-13T00:08:48.757", "id": "17410", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-13T00:08:48.757", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "17403", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "This is a relatively rare word! It has only one result in\n[BCCWJ](http://www.kotonoha.gr.jp/shonagon/), and I couldn't find a definition\nfor it in any of the seven monolingual dictionaries I checked. However, I\n_did_ find it mentioned in the definition for 熟す in 明鏡国語辞典, where it's given\nas a synonym:\n\n> ⑤ **ことばとことばが分かちがたく結びついて、熟語や慣用的な言い回しを作る。熟合{じゅくごう}する。**\n> また、新奇だったことばが一般に行われるようになる。\n>\n> 「『綺語』は『狂言綺語』と熟して使うことが多い」 \n> 「いまだ表現が熟さない(=こなれない)」\n>\n> =熟する\n\nHere's my translation of the relevant passage:\n\n> **To put two words together inseparably, forming an idiomatic word or\n> expression.** Or, for a new word to become widely used.\n\nAs you can see, 熟合 is related to 熟す(る) and to 熟語／熟字, words I bet you're more\nfamiliar with. I think Eiríkr Útlendi's gloss of **idiomatization** captures\nthis idea relatively well. It expresses that the combination is **non-\ncompositional** , which is to say, the meaning may not be predictable from the\npieces that were put together.\n\nA related English term is\n[**lexicalization**](http://www.glottopedia.org/index.php/Lexicalization),\nwhere a new lexical item is formed, requiring its own dictionary entry because\nits meaning can't be synchronically derived from a simple combination of other\nlexical items. For example, English [_traffic\nlight_](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/traffic-\nlight) is clearly the combination of _traffic_ and _light_ , but it needs its\nown dictionary entry because _\" A set of automatically operated colored\nlights, typically red, amber, and green, for controlling traffic at road\njunctions and crosswalks\"_ isn't something you can predict from those two\nwords alone.\n\nHowever, in this particular example we're talking about a morphological\nstructure rather than a lexical item. And in this case,\n[**morphologization**](http://www.glottopedia.org/index.php/Morphologization)\nmay be more appropriate:\n\n> In morphologization \"[P]honological processes and syntactic structures [...]\n> become properly an aspect of morphological, rather than phonological or\n> syntactic, organization\" (Fox 1995: 102). As pointed out in the previous\n> quote the two sources morphologizied structures can originate from are the\n> phonological and the syntactic domain of grammar. Those two types of\n> morphologization have also been labeled dephonologization and\n> desyntactization respectively (Joseph 2003: 473).\n\nAnother related term is **fusion** , the combination of two forms into one.\nThis is the term used in Frellesvig's 2010 _A History of the Japanese\nLanguage_ to describe the formation of _-kar-_ (p.40):\n\n> Another similar set of forms are those where the existential verb _ar-_\n> seemingly **fuses** with a preceding grammatical monosyllabic morpheme: the\n> periphrastic stative _-te-ar-_ giving _-tar-_ , the extended negative\n> _-(a)zu-ar-_ giving _-(a)zar-_ , and the extended adjectival copula **_-ku-\n> ar_ giving _-kar-_**. In these cases, however, _ar-_ must be thought to\n> **fuse** with the full inflected form, not just the suffix: _kakite-ar-_ ⇒\n> _kakitar-_ , _kakazu-ar-_ ⇒ _kakazar-_ , _akaku-ar-_ ⇒ _akakar-_. **In OJ\n> all such forms were simple phonological fusions (3.4.2.1.2), but in EMJ they\n> were reanalysed to give rise to the morphemes _-tar-, -zar-_ , and _-kar-_\n> (8.2.1)**.\n\nSo we could use this term in English, but **fusion** doesn't describe an\naccompanying change in meaning, only a change in form. Searching online for\n熟合, we find people often talk about the process in terms of an accompanying\nchange in meaning. For example, [this blog\npost](http://yeemar.seesaa.net/article/13540788.html):\n\n> 「 **複数のことばが熟合して1つになるとき、意味の変化が起こる**\n> 」という説明はひとことですみます。でも、「川の魚」と「川魚」など、具体的な事例でどのようにその変化が起こっているかを考えるのは、簡単ではないし、それだけにまた、面白いのです。\n\nOr [another similar example](http://www.asahi-\nnet.or.jp/%7EQM4H-IIM/k021002.htm):\n\n> この問題は、 **語と語の熟合の度合いの問題** と捉えたほうがよいかもしれません。たとえば、\n> **「北の風」ということばが熟して「北風」となると、意味が変わります**\n> 。「北の風」は夏でも北から吹いてくれば「北の風」ですが、「北風」は冷たさを伴った冬の風です。「青い空」が「青空」の形に熟することによって意味が変わったと考えれば、今まで試みたような検討では、必ずしも形容詞と名詞の違いを見たことにはなりません。\n\nSo I think your guess \"combine, merge\" is pretty close, but 熟合 may also imply\nan accompanying change in meaning.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-12T22:25:02.020", "id": "17409", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-13T00:18:41.710", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17407", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[]

[ { "body": "Let's see if I can explain this as thoroughly as possible.\n\nは is the topic particle. It marks one of the following things:\n\n * Old information that's being talked about (analogous to 'the' in English)\n\n * A contrast (e.g. あの家は白いけど、この家は青い)\n\nIt really doesn't mark much else.\n\nに is a lot of things, but most of them are irrelevant to this question. The\nimportant uses are these:\n\n * The ren'youkei ('infinitive', which is a terrible term) of the Old and Middle Japanese copula なり\n\n * Locative (in Middle and Modern Japanese, only a static locative - it's where something is located, not where something is happening)\n\n-て is a verbal continuative affix that attaches to the ren'youkei. Before Modern Japanese, it had a sense of _sequentiality_ (e.g. 'this and then that'); but these days X-て Y just means 'X and Y' regardless of whether the actions are sequential or simultaneous.\n\nにて, then, is the Middle Japanese dynamic locative. It marks where things are\nhappening (in contrast to where they're located, which is just に). This\ndistinction between static and dynamic locatives is new as of Middle Japanese,\nand I don't know if anyone can definitively say why this distinction was\ncreated. (I personally suspect that it was an attempt to copy Korean's =e/=seo\ndistinction, but that's original research.) I don't know if anyone knows why\nthey picked this particular construction, either, though it is a valid way to\nsay 'exists in a place and then (something else)'. にて has since turned into で\nthrough phonetic reduction.\n\nWhat's にて doing in the copula, then? Japanese (and probably Japonic as a\nwhole) has had a copula of the form _locative_ +あり (modern ある) for as long as\nwe can tell. The original form was なり (from に+あり), though at some point around\nthe end of the 1500s Japanese switched from using に to using にて (>で) as the\ncopula's locative particle. I don't think anyone knows why, sometimes these\nthings just happen. である of course still exists in Modern Japanese, though it's\nalso been phonetically reduced - to だ in the northwest and to じゃ elsewhere,\nand subsequently from じゃ to や in Kansai and a few other places.\n\nThe negative is で(は)ない because the negative of ある is ない. Why is there a topic\nparticle in there? My guess is this: because almost always, when you say 'X is\nnot Y', you're implying that X is something other than Y. It's then the\ncontrastive use of the topic particle - X is not _Y_ (but it is something\nelse). You can get the contrastive use without the negative also, as ではある,\nthough it's much less common. Over time, ではない has become a set phrase - it's\nnot so much that there's something semantically wrong with でない, it's just that\nではない is so much more common that it's replaced でない in the few uses where でない\nmight have been preferred, allowing the negative form to be ではない and only\nではない.\n\nYou can actually hear でない in certain cases, though. Relative clauses in formal\nspeech are one case - since you're not supposed to have topics inside\nsubclauses, you lose the は. (In informal speech, the set phrase effect comes\ninto play again, and the restriction on topics is ignored since no one's\nthinking of は here as a topic marker at all anymore - it's just part of the\nphrase.) You can also hear it as an alternative phonetic reduction to じゃない -\nsome areas in the northwest use でない as their everyday negative form of だ.\n\nSo in short: it's で instead of に because diachronic change sometimes does\nthings like that, and it's ではない instead of でない because ではない has turned into a\nset phrase.", "comment_count": 7, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T18:53:48.960", "id": "17444", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-15T20:10:34.997", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-15T20:10:34.997", "last_editor_user_id": "3639", "owner_user_id": "3639", "parent_id": "17415", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Here's a very simple rule that works 99% of the time:\n\n 1. The coordinator と (meaning \"AND\") follows **nouns** :\n\n> **犬と猫** が\n\n 2. The conditional と (meaning \"WHEN/IF\") follows **a clause** :\n\n> **びんを落す** と ← a clause that ends in a verb, followed by と\n\nIn your example the clause ends in a verb, but it's also possible in a\nsentence with an adjective or with a noun plus だ or such. The clause can also\nbe negative, and often is.\n\nThis ignores other uses of と, such as the quoting usage. (See Ash's answer.)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-13T06:49:30.830", "id": "17417", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-13T06:57:07.607", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-13T06:57:07.607", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17416", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "と after a verb/i-adjective is the conditional usage* \n(1) そんなことすると逮捕されるぞ。If you do things like that you'll get arrested. \n(2) おいしいとつい食べ過ぎてしまう。If it tastes good I always end up eating too much.\n\nと directly after a noun is the listing usage* \n(3) 私は犬と猫が好きです。I like dogs and cats. \n(4) 日本と中国で文化が違う。Japan and China have different cultures.\n\nだと/ですと after a noun/na-adjective would be the conditional usage* \n(5) 海外だと変な意味になってしまう日本人の名前 Japanese names which have a strange meaning abroad \n(6) まわりが静かだと逆に集中できない。If my surroundings are quiet, I actually can't\nconcentrate.\n\n*Assuming it not the quoting usage like \n(7)「明日雨が降る」と言っていた。They said \"It will rain tomorrow\". \n(8) いい映画だと思います I think it's a good film.\n\nEDIT: If you want to list verbs, you have a number of ways including the te-\nform, ～たり～たりする structure, and using こと or の to basically make the verbs into\nnouns.\n\n(9) 学校に行って勉強します I will go to school and study. \n(10) 週末は買い物に行ったり映画を見たりします。On the weekend I do things such as go shopping and\nwatch movies. \n(11) 僕の趣味はゲームをすることと、映画を見ることです。My hobbies are playing games and watching\nmovies. \n(12) 料理するのが好きです。 I like cooking. \nIn 11 and 12, the こと or の after the verb basically makes it into a noun so you\ncan connect it using と just like other nouns.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-13T06:54:51.667", "id": "17418", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-13T07:21:44.690", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-13T07:21:44.690", "last_editor_user_id": "3010", "owner_user_id": "3010", "parent_id": "17416", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "The only example I can think of that is in common use is tobacco. I remember\nbeing impressed tobacco was so successful in entering the Japanese language\nunlike all the other katakana words. I think it's たばこ、煙草 but it'd be safer to\ncheck at コンビニ .", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-13T11:48:09.970", "id": "17420", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-13T11:48:09.970", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5483", "parent_id": "17419", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "Words that are often written in katakana but have kanji available tend to fall\ninto several groups. These are the sorts of words I find when I look for words\nmeeting these criteria in Jim Breen's EDICT and such:\n\n 1. Recent loans from Chinese languages, reflecting modern pronunciation:\n\n * Food words: ザーサイ(搾菜)・ワンタン(雲呑)・マーボー(麻婆)豆腐\n * Numbers: イー(一)・アル(二)・サン(三)・スー(四)\n * Mahjong words: リーチ(立直)・テンパイ(聴牌)\n * Place names: ペキン(北京)\n * Interjections: ニーハオ(你好)・シエシエ(謝々)\n\nOf course, there's other sorts of loan words: クーニャン(姑娘)・ピンイン(拼音)・カンフー(功夫)\n\n 2. Older units given ateji, now often written in kana: メートル(米)・トン(屯)・グラム(瓦)・ページ(頁)\n\n 3. Foreign place names given ateji, now usually written in kana: アメリカ(亜米利加)・イギリス(英吉利)・ロシア(露西亜)・シンガポール（新嘉坡）\n\nSome morphemes made by abbreviating these ateji are still used. For example,\nin the word 英語, the first part 英 comes fromg 英吉利.\n\n 4. Other foods given ateji: コーヒー(珈琲)・レモン(檸檬)\n\n 5. Plants and animals which are commonly written in katakana but have kanji available: ハチドリ（蜂鳥）・ホトトギス(杜鵑).\n\nYou'll run across some others here and there. Overall, out of the words listed\nin EDICT in katakana, around 1% have kanji. But there are a lot of rare ateji\nfor foreign words that are normally written in katakana. Just take a look at\n[this\nlist](http://kokugo.chu.jp/kotonoha/shiryou_text/gairaigono%20ateji.htm), for\nexample.\n\nOf course, you should take these numbers with a grain of salt. The category of\n\"katakana words\" isn't at all well defined, and I'm certain there are many\nexamples of ateji that aren't listed in EDICT. And after all, people can make\nnew ones any time they want—[like 吐露非狩古鬱, for\nexample](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ouW_GAv-w#t=1m14s).\n\nBut most of the time, you should expect \"katakana words\" to be written in\nkatakana.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-13T17:43:11.403", "id": "17421", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-13T18:57:55.827", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17419", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Whether it contains the subject or not, it's natural to mark 暴力 with は because\nit's a general statement to say that violence is evil. Otherwise it\n(especially が) would connote that violence being evil is occasional or\nviolence is more evil than the other things. (If that is the case, it's\nnatural on its own.)", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T12:59:54.957", "id": "17432", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T12:59:54.957", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4092", "parent_id": "17422", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "What we have here is a case of embedded sentences using the quotative particle\nと. The first sentence is as follows:\n\n> 暴力は悪だ Violence is evil.\n\nThe speaker's intent is to condemn **all** violence, so the use of は here is\nappropriate. Looking at the other part separately, we get:\n\n> Xと非難する to condemn X\n\nWhile we usually think of the particle と in combination with the verbs 話す, 言う,\nand 思う, the truth is that it can be used with any verb where you are acting on\na full or partial expression (e.g. 暴力は悪だと分かるんだが・・・). In these cases, the use\nof は or が does not change to fit the larger sentence because the particle と is\nshielding it from the larger sentence's influence.\n\nAs to the question about 悪, it's typically read as あく when it stands alone as\na noun. As ZhenLin pointed out in the comments, わる most often appears in 訓読み\ncompounds (e.g. 悪気【わるぎ】 \"ill will\") or other stem-related derivatives (e.g.\n悪さ【わるさ】 \"badness\").", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T16:13:43.413", "id": "17437", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T16:13:43.413", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4914", "parent_id": "17422", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "_(Answer based on information received in chat on 15 June 2014)_\n\nIn the examples given either を or が would be correct.\n\nIn Japanese, linguists call certain verbs (like 言う) \"exceptional case marking\nverbs\" (ECM verbs), and these verbs allow \"raising to object\", where the\nsubject of the と-clause becomes the object of the main clause. For example:\n\n> 花子は [ 彼が 嘘つきだ ]-と 思っている。 \n> 花子は 彼を [ 嘘つきだ ]-と 思っている。 ← SUBJECT is \"raised\" out of the と-clause to\n> OBJECT of the main clause\n\nThis is also referred to as \"subject raising\".\n\nA number of theories have been put forward to explain how/when this can be\ndone but it remains a matter of discussion. The are summarised in the paper\n\"Semantic constraints on the subject-to-object raising (ECM) construction in\nJapanese\" (Link: <http://vsarpj.orinst.ox.ac.uk/files/horn.eals.pdf>)\n\n(Re: わる vs あく； see link in 3rd comment below question from Snailboat.)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-26T00:31:52.700", "id": "17572", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-28T01:21:05.640", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-28T01:21:05.640", "last_editor_user_id": "1556", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "17422", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "In 12 years living in Tokyo the only place I see kanji numbers is on some\nrestaurant menus and places going for an old-fashioned look. Arabic numbers\nare the norm for times, dates etc. in almost all aspects of daily life. Kanji\nis standard for labels though.\n\nSo your examples would be typically be written as:\n\n今、7時15分です。( 7:15 much more common for time of day, 7時15分 more common for\nduration )\n\n明日は9月3日木よう日です。(I see 木曜日 much more often, don't ever remember seeing 木よう日.\nMaybe in an elementary school - 曜 is a lot for grade 2.)\n\nI will often text my spouse and Japanese friends in all hiragana. They say\nit's awkward to read and they often respond in a mix of hiragana and kanji,\nbut that's just for me.\n\nIf by some chance you are learning from a book written for children, I would\nsuggest you change now. It's a rather different process.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T11:33:39.697", "id": "17430", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T11:33:39.697", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6569", "parent_id": "17423", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Kanji for times and dates tend to appear on official documents such as a\nkoseki (戸籍), on certificates, awards, and citations, on bank drafts and notes,\nand similar materials.\n\nMoreover, there are important variants for numerical kanji, including\n\n一 and 壱\n\n二 and 弐\n\n三 and 参\n\nThe above variants are used on certain official documents at least in part to\nmake altering the numbers more difficult.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T15:01:23.257", "id": "17433", "last_activity_date": "2020-07-19T01:14:13.513", "last_edit_date": "2020-07-19T01:14:13.513", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "5409", "parent_id": "17423", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "This largely depends on whether you write horizontally (横書【よこが】き) or\nvertically (縦書【たてが】き).\n\nIn horizontal writing, Arabic numeral are preferred in almost all cases.\n「2014年10月25日」 is the most common way.\n\nThings are different and difficult in vertical writing. Kanji numbers\n(Kansuji; 漢数字【かんすうじ】) are much more preferred than in horizontal writing, but\nArabic numbers are still frequently used.\n\nSee the picture below. All of these are frequently used for dates, but their\nusage differs.\n\n**A.** One-by-one transliteration of Arabic numerals into kansuji. Note 「〇」\ncharacter which represents zero (漢数字ゼロ). This is very easy to write and read.\nThis is the preferred way if you have to write numbers such as phone numbers\nand zip codes in kansuji .\n\n**B.** Kansuji based on its pronunciation. This is very orthodox way, and\nworks good for shorter numbers. \"今日は十月二十五日だ\" (written vertically) certainly\nlooks better than \"今日は一〇月二五日だ\" or any other styles described here, if its\nwritten in the middle of ordinary sentences in novels, etc. However this can\nsoon be long and difficult to understand for larger numbers. So avoid this\nstyle if you write dates repeatedly.\n\n**C.** Put Arabic numbers vertically. This is simple and actually seen\neverywhere, but sometimes considered to be not good in professional books,\nnovels, and magazines.\n\n**D.** This style is called 縦中横【たてちゅうよこ】 (horizontal-in-vertical). Two (or\nsometimes three) numerals are combined and written as if they were one\ncharacter. This rule is preferred to write numbers in modern newspapers and\nmagazines. But good software support is required (and unfortunately MS Word\nhandles this terribly).\n\n**E.** Intensive use of 縦中横【たてちゅうよこ】 for numbers larger than 100. Sometimes I\nsee this in mangas and casual magazines.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-15T01:35:11.250", "id": "17450", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-15T01:44:20.287", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-15T01:44:20.287", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17423", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "You're parsing the sentence incorrectly. It's not `[随分仲]が[良い]`, but rather\n`[随分][仲が良い]`. That's why you can't find 随分仲 in any dictionary - it's not a\nword.\n\nYou are correct that 随分 means \"extremely\" (well, I might weaken that a little\n- it's more like \"quite\" or \"very\"); here, it functions as an adverb (not an\nadjective) that modifies 仲が良い. If you consult any dictionary, you _will_ find\n仲が良い, which is a set phrase. See, for example, [Weblio EJ-\nJE](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BB%B2%E3%81%8C%E8%89%AF%E3%81%84), which\ngives \"close; intimate; on good terms\" as a definition.\n\nWith this in mind, we can now look at the sentence you gave: 彼氏と随分仲が良い. One\npossible translation for this is \"[someone] is on very good terms with [her]\nboyfriend.\" Since 随分 is just an adverb and not part of the set phrase 仲が良い,\nthe sentence would still be grammatical if we were to remove it, leaving just\n彼氏と仲が良い, which we could translate as \"[someone] is on good terms with [her]\nboyfriend.\" Context will dictate who exactly \"[someone]\" is supposed to be.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T06:35:08.523", "id": "17426", "last_activity_date": "2014-11-22T02:12:34.923", "last_edit_date": "2014-11-22T02:12:34.923", "last_editor_user_id": "3437", "owner_user_id": "3437", "parent_id": "17425", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 } ]

[ { "body": "Your general impression is correct.\n\nThe first term (能率, nōritsu) generally applies to how much can be gained with\nin a set time period. It is used more abstractly and generally, often to refer\nto an improvement in performance of a task at work, as in statements like\n\"using a computer is more efficient\".\n\nAlso, this term is used in physics to refer to a moment, although in the\nmaterial I've seen on that topic, モーメント (mōmento) is more common.\n\nThe second term (効率, kōritsu) more often applies to the operational efficiency\nor effectiveness of machinery or equipment, or to the amount gain or benefit\nobtained with respect to effort applied. In concrete terms, 効率 tends to be\nused to describe the performance of various types of machinery or equipment as\nregards, for instance, energy efficiency, power consumption, or output.\n\nThe second term (効率) is widely used in technical literature, research papers\non topics such as electrical engineering, power electronics, and mechanical\nengineering, and anywhere that the performance or a device or apparatus is\nbeing measured and evaluated.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T15:11:00.230", "id": "17434", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T17:18:20.770", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-14T17:18:20.770", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5409", "parent_id": "17427", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "From\n[http://dict.hjenglish.com/jp/jc/はかる](http://dict.hjenglish.com/jp/jc/%E3%81%AF%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8B)\n\n## 計る - to measure (quantities and in general)\n\n> “計る”指计数物品的数量。转义为计划。如“计划时间”、“量体温”、“计算数量”、“筹划组织的将来”等。\n> （「計る」は、物の数を数えること。転じて、計画すること。「時間を計る」「体温を計る」「数量を計る」「組織の将来を計る」など。）\n\n計る is used for counting/measuring the number of something. It can also mean\n\"to plan\". (General word for measuring things)\n\n * 時間を計る - Plan a time\n * 体温を計る - Measure body temperature\n * 数量を計る - Count the quantity\n * 組織の将来を計る - Plan the organisation's future\n\n## 量る - to measure (a three dimensional amount)\n\n> “量る”指确定重量及体积。如“称重量”、“量体重”、“测量容积”、“称分量”等。\n> （「量る」は、重さやかさを調べること。「目方（めかた）を量る」「体重を量る」「容積を量る」「分量を量る」など。）\n\n量る is used to measure weight and volume.\n\n * 目方を量る - Measure weight\n * 体重を量る - Measure body weight\n * 容積を量る - Measure volume/capacity\n * 分量を量る - Measure an amount/quantity\n\n## 測る - to measure (lengths and areas)\n\n> “測る”指测定长度及高度等。如“测量距离”、“测标高”、“测水深”、“测量面积”等。\n> （「測る」は、長さや高さなどを調べること。「距離を測る」「標高を測る」「水深を測る」「面積を測る」など。）\n\n測る is used to measure length, height, etc.\n\n * 距離を測る - Measure distance\n * 標高を測る - Measure elevation/altitude\n * 水深を測る - Measure depth of water\n * 面積を測る - Measure area\n\n## 図る - to plan\n\n> “図る”指对事物作出估计。如“谋求问题的解决”、“谋求经营的合理化”、“谋求促进”等。\n> （「図る」は、物事の見積（みつ）もりをたてること。「問題の解決図る」「経営の合理化を図る」「促進を図る」など。）\n\n図る is used to plan or aim towards things.\n\n * 問題の解決図る - Seek the problem's resolution\n * 経営の合理化を図る - Attempt to streamline running the business\n * 促進を図る - Attempt to promote (an idea)\n\n## 謀る - to plot\n\n> “謀る”指计划不好的事情。如“图谋暗杀”、“企图秘密入境”、“被巧妙地骗了”等。\n> （「謀る」は、よくないことを計画すること。「暗殺を謀る」「密入国を謀る」「まんまと謀られた」など。）\n\n謀る is used to plot or aim towards bad things. (Same as 図る but for bad things)\n\n * 暗殺を謀る - Plot an assassination\n * 密入国を謀る - Plot to illegally immigrate\n * まんまと謀られた - I was skillfully deceived\n\n## 諮る - to discuss\n\n> “諮る”指与人交换意见。如“向审议会征求意见”、“与委员会磋商”等。 （「諮る」は、人と意見を出し合うこと。「審議会に諮る」「委員会に諮る」など。）\n\n諮る is used to indicate the exchange of opinions.\n\n * 審議会に諮る - Petition the working group\n * 委員会に諮る - Negotiate with the commitee", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T10:51:34.587", "id": "17429", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T11:05:25.087", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-14T11:05:25.087", "last_editor_user_id": "1497", "owner_user_id": "1497", "parent_id": "17428", "post_type": "answer", "score": 17 }, { "body": "_Information comes from the disambiguation notes in 大辞林 for はかる._\n\n## はかる\n\nGeneral meaning: To plan out; to measure\n\n## 計る\n\nmeasure, take; weigh; sound; time; gauge\n\n_Use 計る when examining the time or extent of something_\n\n## 諮る\n\nconsult (with); submit\n\n_諮る means “to get the opinion of another person” or “to consult for advice”._\n\n## 図る\n\nplan; conspire, plot; try, attempt; seek; aim for; work for\n\n_図る means “to form a plan, with the intent to make it real.” If it’s something\nyou’re setting a goal to do [e.g. 目指す], then use 図る_\n\n## 測る\n\n_測る means “to measure length and/or breadth.”_\n\n## 謀る\n\n_謀る means “to deceive”._\n\nSimilar to 図る above, 謀る also means to consider from a variety of angles, take\nmeasurements, and execute a plan so that an existing objective can become a\nreality.\n\n_If you’re planning something evil, 謀る is commonly used for this purpose_\n\n## 量る\n\n_量る means “to measure weight or capacity” or “to estimate”._", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T16:27:12.540", "id": "17438", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T16:27:12.540", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4914", "parent_id": "17428", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Personally, my interpretation of \"そのうち\" in this case would be \"among those\nthings\". Hence, it's referring to a collection of non-descript items that also\nhappens to include a box among them.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T15:59:11.773", "id": "17436", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T15:59:11.773", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4914", "parent_id": "17435", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "If I'm not mistaken, I think there are two acceptable ways to say this in\nEnglish, too:\n\n> そのうちの一つの箱は私のです。 \n> One box among those is mine. (more literally) Among those, one box is mine.\n>\n> その箱のうちの一つは私のです。 \n> One of those boxes is mine.\n\nIt's true the former looks slightly less-organized, but the nuance is fairly\nsmall in spoken language.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-16T08:05:23.670", "id": "17463", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-16T08:05:23.670", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17435", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "_Information primarily sourced from 大辞林's entry on とる._\n\n## とる\n\n**General meaning:** to take, to manipulate; to record\n\n## 取る\n\n取る means “to have in hand”, “to take in hand”, “to collect”, “to demand time\nor labor”, “to undertake”.\n\nUnlike 持つ【もつ】, 取る involves manipulation of the object in hand for a purpose;\nnot just simply holding it.\n\n## 撮る\n\n撮る means “to shoot pictures or movies”.\n\n## 録る\n\n録る means “to record sound/video to a medium”. It differs from 撮る in that it\nfocuses on the medium moreso than the recording of what is taking place.\n\n## 執る\n\n執る means “to take into hand and use”, “to carry out”.\n\nとる is often written as 取る, however it can also be written as 執る in cases such\nas the following:\n\n * 筆を執る [to pick up a writing brush/to take up the pen]\n * 事務を執る [to attend to business]\n\n## 摂る\n\n摂る means “to take into the body” (e.g. nutrition), “to eat”.\n\n## 捕る\n\n捕る means “to arrest”, “to catch”. (cf. 捕まる【つかまる】)\n\n## 獲る\n\n獲る means “to catch game” (e.g. hunting or fishing). It can also be written as\n捕る【とる】.\n\n## 穫る\n\n穫る means “to harvest crops”.\n\n## 採る\n\n採る means “to gather”, “to go hunting for”, “to collect”, “to select”.\n\n## 盗る\n\n盗る means “to take someone else’s things”, “to steal”. It can also be written\nas 取る.\n\n## I just want to play it safe, which ones are generic?\n\n取る is a safe bet for most things that involve picking up or taking objects,\nwhile 撮る is safe for anything involving recording.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T16:42:29.120", "id": "17440", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T16:42:29.120", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4914", "parent_id": "17439", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "You already know the dictionary meanings.\n\n * All of these とる variants listed here are understood by most Japanese adults.\n * In general, using certain uncommon [同訓異字](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%8C%E8%A8%93%E7%95%B0%E5%AD%97) verbs, such as 啼く (vs 鳴く), [護る](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/16155/) (vs 守る), 淹れる (vs 入れる), can sometimes do more harm than good in daily practice. It's unnecessarily difficult and too poetic. You probably know this risk.\n * However, [NHK does use many of these とる variants](http://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/summary/kotoba/uraomote/111.html) according to the situation, except for 穫る, 録る. Unfortunately, you can't just stick to 取る.\n * 撮る is definitely worth memorizing because it's used very frequently and 「写真を取る」「映画を取る」 is 100% incorrect. However 「撮る is safe for anything involving recording」 is also not accurate because 撮る can be used only for recording _with cameras_. \n * テレビで放送されていた映画をDVDに撮る => weird\n * 野鳥の鳴き声をスマホで撮る => weird\n * Besides 取る and 撮る, **the safest strategy is not to stick to 取る, but to stick to hiragana とる**. Or you can avoid ambiguous とる altogether and use equivalents such as 盗む, 採用する, 採取する, 録画する/録音する, 捕まえる and 収穫する. These are actually what I do in daily practice. I sometimes dare write 「栄養をとる」「山菜をとる」「筆をとる」 instead of 「栄養を摂る」「山菜を採る」「筆を執る」 to make my text look milder.\n * 「映画を録る (at home) 」 is not listed in 常用漢字表 but I really see this often.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-16T01:47:46.633", "id": "17460", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-16T19:41:32.980", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:48.447", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17439", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "出来る (usually written in kana) can take on several different meanings (see e.g.\n[http://tangorin.com/general/出来る](http://tangorin.com/general/%E5%87%BA%E6%9D%A5%E3%82%8B)\nfor the entire list). Here it means that the preparations \"became finished\".\n\nIn the sentence \"図書館ができた\", it means that a library was built.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T17:43:38.453", "id": "17442", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T17:43:38.453", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4669", "parent_id": "17441", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "There are two uses of できる:\n\n 1. As a potential form for する, meaning \"can do\". Like the potential forms of other verbs, it's stative and generally can't appear in the 〜ている form. Compare the ungrammatical English \"I am being able to do 〜\".\n\n 2. As a verb in its own right, できる means \"come into existence, complete, accomplish, perform well\", which can have a variety of meanings in different contexts. It can be used for puddles forming, or for making friends, or for being pregnant, or for doing well on a test.\n\nIn this meaning できる isn't a stative verb. It's a punctual verb, and with 〜ている\nit has a resultative meaning:\n\n> 準備ができている \n> _Preparations **are complete**_\n\n(Punctual verbs are also called achievement verbs.)", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T18:05:11.493", "id": "17443", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-14T18:05:11.493", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17441", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I think this is not really overgeneralization, but when I was in Tokyo I've\nheard quite a few little kids use 連用形＋して instead of 連用形＋音便＋て to form て-form\n(i.e. 飲みして, 待ちして), likely to avoid the messy 音便 rules. I guess this is some\nsort of new form that spread among kids.\n\nEdit: After recalling a bit, it seems that this \"error\" comes up the most\noften with 〜てみる. So kids would say ちょっと待って, but 飲みしてみて.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-17T08:34:14.353", "id": "17475", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-17T08:34:14.353", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2960", "parent_id": "17445", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "The kinds of mistakes that children make depend on how often they hear the\ncorrect speech around them. From my experience, Japanese children make fewer\nmistakes in conjugating verbs than in using particles properly. I've heard\nadult women use \"kireiku nai\" deliberately for the same of emphasizing their\npoint. My first Japanese teacher used to say that you spend your first year of\nJapanese study learning all of the rules, and then the rest of your life\nlearning when to break them. I've also heard adults say yon-nichi instead of\nyoka to differentiate between four days and eight days.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-06T17:28:48.260", "id": "17681", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-06T17:28:48.260", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6750", "parent_id": "17445", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "I expect children in all cultures go through a trial and error period of well\nintended but amusing errors as their ability to speak develops.\n\nThis paper looks at the development of Japanese children's narrative\nabilities, comparing the narrative given for a series of pictures by several\nage groups up to adult.\n\n<http://www.researchgate.net/publication/245402146_Anchor_tense_in_Japanese_Narrative> \n(Short\nversion:<http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/proceedings/2006/iccs/p119.pdf>)\n\nIt does not identify errors so much as track how a child's ability to relate a\nstory changes as he/she gets older. Basically as a child begins to appreciate\naspect and tense he/she starts to set all narratives in the past (たーform).\nThen, as this sense develops, the child starts to introduce expressions in the\nるーpresent tense aswell.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T15:04:29.687", "id": "17704", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T21:24:20.893", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-07T21:24:20.893", "last_editor_user_id": "1556", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "17445", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "There are a lot of ways that these over-generalizations occur doing child\nlanguage acquisition. They do in fact occur -- often -- in Japanese. In fact,\nI think it is safe to say that they occur in every language.\n\nThere's a rather in depth list of examples of some of these over-\ngeneralizations available in the papers referenced below. I will describe one\nexample here: the over-generalization of ～らせて (e.g. as seen in 遅【おく】らせて) and\n～させて (e.g. 食べさせて). Thus many children will say things like:\n\n> おきらせて and おきさせて (＝おこして).\n\nEven earlier than that, Japanese children will often simply use 自動詞 to express\nthe meaning of a 他動詞, as seen in:\n\n> かあさん、でんしゃ、うごいてくれ。(＝かあさん、でんしゃを **うごかして** くれ)\n\nThere are many more papers and likely books written on this subject, but any\nJapanese-language introductory book on language acquisition should have a\nbunch more examples.\n\n* * *\n\n### References\n\n * [荒井文雄(2003)日本語における起因他動詞の習得段階－起因他動詞をめぐる誤用のもつ意味－『京都産業大学論集』、人文科学系列第30号、pp.1-38](http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~arai/acquisition%20causative.html)\n * [荒井文雄(2006)日本語における可能表現の習得過程『京都産業大学論集』、人文科学系列第34号、pp.1-23](http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~arai/acquisition%20potential.html)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-23T15:24:14.440", "id": "17928", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-23T15:24:14.440", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "384", "parent_id": "17445", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "お忘れなく means 忘れずに or 忘れないで, _don't forget_. It's the negative form of an\nhonorific form of 忘れる. Here is the definition of お/ご～ある/ない in the dictionary:\n\n> [ある](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9C%89%E3%82%8B)\n> 動詞の連用形や動作性の漢語名詞などに付いて、多く「お…ある」「御(ご)…ある」の形で、その動作をする人に対する尊敬を表す。「おいで―・れ」「御笑覧―・れ」\n\nMore examples:\n\n> お忘れなく -> 忘れないで \n> お構いなく -> 構わないで \n> ご遠慮なく -> 遠慮しないで \n> ご心配なく -> 心配しないで \n> お咎めなく -> 咎めないで \n> お見逃しなく -> 見逃さないで\n\nNormally, you don't put です after なく, and ですぞ sounds somewhat archaic.\n\nI presume ending every sentence with ですぞ is the speaker's\n[idiosyncrasy](http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%9E).", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-14T21:25:13.207", "id": "17449", "last_activity_date": "2021-11-26T23:27:16.000", "last_edit_date": "2021-11-26T23:27:16.000", "last_editor_user_id": "30454", "owner_user_id": "4833", "parent_id": "17446", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "It's a quite literal equivalent to the English \"Dead men tell no tales.\"", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-15T10:17:51.593", "id": "17454", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-15T10:17:51.593", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4914", "parent_id": "17452", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Just from living in Japan, speaking to Japanese people, and more than anything\nconsuming lots of Japanese media...\n\nワールドカップ is **by far** the most common. \nだぶるはい I feel like should exist but I can't actually remember the last time I\nheard someone say this. \n[ダブルカップ](http://tabelog.com/restaurant/images/Rvw/14862/640x640_rect_14862647.jpg),\nワールドはい no.\n\nIf you need some extra evidence I found a [chiebukuro\npost](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1041153090)\nwhere the answers basically back me up that ワールドカップ is the most common.\n\n> 1.ワールドカップ以外の読み方を聞いたことがありません。\n>\n> 2.基本どんな読み方でも悪くはないけどワールドカップって読む人が多いですよね～\n>\n>\n> 3.サッカーとか知らないような人だったら、もしかして読むかも知れませんが、普通は読みません。というか、W杯って言葉なんですけど、何かに書いたりするような時に、ワールドカップという言葉を短縮するのには使ったりしますけど、会話ではワールドカップとは言いますけど、一般的にW杯とは会話では言いませんよね！？\n> etc etc\n\nThe pronunciation of W in Japanese is discussed\n[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5642/pronunciation-of-w).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-15T10:45:49.820", "id": "17455", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-15T12:43:04.953", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:44.207", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "3010", "parent_id": "17453", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "W杯 is not meant to be pronounced. No one knows how to say this out loud\n\"correctly\".\n\nIf conveying the meaning is important, I would read this as \"ワールドカップ\", maybe\nafter one second of consideration. It's like saying \"The First World War\" for\nWWI.\n\nIf what's literally written on the paper is important, I would say \"ダブリュー・はい\",\nknowing this is an unusual way to refer to The World Cup. It's like saying\n\"double-u, double-u, ai\" for WWI.\n\nThe _correct_ way to say \"W\", I believe, is ダブリュー. Announcers always say\n\"ダブリュー、ダブリュー、ダブリュー、ドット、グーグル、ドット、コム\" for \"www.google.com\".\n\nI always pronounce W as ダブル only when it clearly means _double_ , _second_ ,\nor _extra_\n([Wチャンス](https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=W%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9&tbm=isch)).\nBut I hear many Japanese people say ダブル regardless of the context, probably\nbecause ダブル is easier to pronounce.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-16T03:52:30.910", "id": "17461", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-16T03:52:30.910", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17453", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "`ってのよ` can be expanded into `と言っているのよ` and `ってんだ` into `と言っているのだ`. (Although\nnormally I would expect the first one spelled as `ってんのよ`.)\n\nWhat happens here is the pretty standard `と言って` → `って` contraction combined\nwith `るの` → `の` → `ん`.\n\nFor translation, I'd probably put something like \"I'm telling (you/him)!\" or\n\"I say!\". Or even nothing, just phrase it so it's obviously an imperative\nphrase directed towards another party.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T00:12:35.690", "id": "17481", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T00:12:35.690", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3295", "parent_id": "17469", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "It is read `ウエ` as you were inclined to think. I do not believe there are any\ntimes when it would be read as `ジョウ` after a dictionary form. It **_is_** read\nas `ジョウ` when appearing directly after a noun.\n\nSee also\n\n * [クラウド上で - pronunciation?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6495/78)\n * [What does it mean to be “over a law”?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/4329/78)", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-16T20:20:59.680", "id": "17471", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-16T20:20:59.680", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:43.857", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "17470", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[]

[ { "body": "To be blunt, this was probably written by someone with poor writing skills. I\nwould correct it at least to:\n\n> これで本人が、力みもなくちゃんと演奏出来るのであれば、わざわざ指摘する必要のない程度にきちんと構えられていますよ！\n\nThis'd still not be particularly well written.\n\nI think the intention is better expressed e.g. like this:\n\n> 本人がこれで力みもなく演奏出来るのであれば、ある程度きちんと構えられていると思うので、わざわざ指摘する必要はないかと思います", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-17T13:42:38.587", "id": "17476", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-17T13:42:38.587", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "499", "parent_id": "17474", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "~ています is simply more polite than ～いる. You would use ～ています with strangers,\npeople you just met, in a business situation, or just to be more polite. ～ている\nwould be used in writing, or in casual situations.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T00:18:44.197", "id": "17482", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T00:18:44.197", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6604", "parent_id": "17480", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Historically there were multiple way to write a word, and this wasn't\nstandardized. For example, some very old documents contain both 直音表記 and ヤ行表記.\n\nThis was subsequently standardized as\n[歴史的仮名遣い](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%B4%E5%8F%B2%E7%9A%84%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D%E9%81%A3)\nand then\n[現代仮名遣い](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8F%BE%E4%BB%A3%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D%E9%81%A3%E3%81%84).\n\nSo, unless you are living in an ancient era you wouldn't use 直音表記.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T07:07:43.470", "id": "17489", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T07:07:43.470", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "499", "parent_id": "17483", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "ポケットティッシュ is the generic term for those tissue packs. As far as I know, there\nis no one word for \"ポケットティッシュ for promotion\".\n\n[Manufacturers of those tissue\npacks](http://dir.yahoo.co.jp/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Marketing_and_Advertising/Advertising/Promotional_Items/Pocket_Tissue/)\nseem to call them:\n\n * [販促]{はんそく}用の(ポケット)ティッシュ (販促 = abbreviation for 販売促進 (sales promotion))\n * [宣伝]{せんでん}用の(ポケット)ティッシュ\n * プロモーション用の(ポケット)ティッシュ\n\n**Edit:** Everyone knows those promotional tissue packs, so in general you can\njust say 「駅でティッシュをもらった」 and 「ティッシュ配りのアルバイト」and so on, without the risk of\nmisunderstanding.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T04:58:46.763", "id": "17486", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T06:03:28.330", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-18T06:03:28.330", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17485", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "I'll probably call it 駅前で配ってるティッシュ. As in 「駅前で配ってるやつでごめんね」 (they are usually\nbad quality).", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T07:11:38.150", "id": "17490", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T07:11:38.150", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "499", "parent_id": "17485", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "You know what \"後ろめたい\" is, so let's concentrate on the first half.\n\n「～みたいだ」 is \"It seems ～\" or \"Looks like ～\". 「持ったみたいだ」 can be translated as \"It\nseems that I had ～\".\n\n> 彼女とも違う秘密を持ったみたいだ。\n\nThis sentence is ambiguous by itself. Without any context given, I thought of\ntwo possible interpretations:\n\n> 彼女と`の間に`も違う秘密を持ったみたいだ。 \n> It seems that I made a different secret _also with her_.\n\nThe boy shared a secret with someone else before this. Now he\n(unintentionally) created another secret with this girl, too. (Yes it's\nsomething about triangle relationship.)\n\n * あの子と = with that person (girl)\n * も = also\n\n> 彼女`の`とも違う秘密を持ったみたいだ。 \n> 彼女`の秘密`とも違う秘密を持ったみたいだ。 \n> It seems that I made a secret that is _even different from her secret_.\n\n * Aと違うB = B which is different from A\n * も = also, even\n\nThe boy knew something about the girl's secret, and was worrying about that.\nBut now he feels sorry because he has another secret of his own.\n\n* * *\n\nAnd now that we have adequate amount of context given, I think the first\ninterpretation is more likely here, although I don't know what \"the first\nsecret with someone else\" actually is.", "comment_count": 6, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T10:05:08.813", "id": "17492", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T11:24:48.843", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-18T11:24:48.843", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17487", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "気が遠い typically means something like you feel far away, disconnected, swoon due\nto mental stress of some kind like it is difficult for you to comprehend what\nyou are seeing or experiencing or your head is spinning because of sensory\noverload. So my guess at what these two sentences mean, absent of more context\nis the following:\n\n22 is still young, yet I can't recall even this... It frustrates me. Thinking\nabout what the future has in store for me makes my head spin.\n\nBasically the person is trying very hard to recall something like this but\njust can't, so he/she is frustrated and flustered and it is causing their\nbrain to hurt trying to recall it.\n\nThat's my interpretation at least. 英辞郎 has a lot of different examples of how\n気が遠い (in the く form) can be translated.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T23:49:17.453", "id": "17500", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-19T04:34:01.070", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-19T04:34:01.070", "last_editor_user_id": "6604", "owner_user_id": "6604", "parent_id": "17488", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "In this case 気が遠いよ expresses the feeling of helplessness that the narrator\nfeels. As the above answer states, 気が遠い means to feel faint, but it's not\nnecessarily meant literally here.\n\nI would translate that whole passage as follows:\n\n\"I'm 22, still young, and yet I can't bring this back to mind. This frustrates\nme. And thinking about what the future might hold makes me feel faint.\"\n\nThe narrator is only young, but already feels as if she is suffering from the\nkind of memory loss associated with elderly people. And this state of affairs\ninstills a sense of helplessness about how things are going to be for her from\nhere on in.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-19T04:21:11.680", "id": "17502", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-19T05:16:22.843", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-19T05:16:22.843", "last_editor_user_id": "6614", "owner_user_id": "6614", "parent_id": "17488", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "The past tense ～た attaches to the 連用形 \"continuative form\" of verbs, which for\nconsonant stem verbs is formed by adding `-i-` to the stem, and for vowel stem\nverbs is formed by adding nothing.\n\nFor vowel stem verbs, this is fairly simple:\n\n```\n\n 寝る n **e** -ru → 　寝た n **e** -ta\n 見る m **i** -ru → 　見た m **i** -ta\n```\n\nFor consonant stem verbs, it's more complicated. Depending on which consonant\nthe stem ends with, we find an additional set of sound changes:\n\n```\n\n 書く ka **k** -u → *書きた ka **k** -i-ta → 書いた ka- **i-t** a　\n 脱ぐ nu **g** -u → *脱ぎた nu **g** -i-ta → 脱いだ nu- **i-d** a　\n 話す hana **s** -u → 話した hana **s** -i-ta\n 持つ mo **t** -u → *持ちた mo **t** -i-ta → 持った mo **t-t** a　\n 死ぬ si **n** -u → *死にた si **n** -i-ta → 死んだ si **n-d** a　\n 運ぶ hako **b** -u → *運びた hako **b** -i-ta → 運んだ hako **n-d** a　\n 噛む ka **m** -u → *噛みた ka **m** -i-ta → 噛んだ ka **n-d** a　\n やる ya **r** -u → *やりた ya **r** -i-ta → やった ya **t-t** a　\n 言う i **w** -u → *言いた i **w** -i-ta → 言った i **t-t** a　\n```\n\nNote that /w/ disappears before all vowels except /a/, so `i **w** -u` is 言う,\n`i **w** -anai` is 言わない, etc.\n\nThree otherwise regular consonant stem verbs are irregular here:\n\n```\n\n 行く i **k** -u → *行きた i **k** -i-ta → 行った i **t-t** a　\n 問う to **w** -u → *問いた to **w** -i-ta → 問うた to **o-t** a　\n 請う ko **w** -u → *請いた ko **w** -i-ta → 請うた ko **o-t** a\n```\n\nThese last two reflect western sound changes, while the regular verbs reflect\neastern sound changes.\n\nAnd our irregular verbs are irregular as usual:\n\n```\n\n する suru → 　した si-ta\n 来る kuru → 　来た ki-ta\n \n```\n\nThe same changes apply when adding て, たり, たら, or たって rather than た.\n\n* * *\n\nIn this answer, the `*` symbol indicates that a form is considered incorrect\nin Modern Japanese, and is included only to show you how the forms \"evolved\"\n(as you asked).", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T15:15:28.880", "id": "17497", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T16:12:16.397", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-18T16:12:16.397", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17494", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I think the basic word is かがく, but the other reading is possible. Here's what\n明鏡国語辞典 says at the bottom of its entry for 化学{かがく}:\n\n> ►「科学」と区別して「ばけがく」ともいう。\n\nIf you pronounce it this way, you're deliberately using the other reading of\nthe first kanji to make sure the person you're talking to knows which word you\nmean. I would definitely learn the reading かがく, though.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T13:41:53.510", "id": "17496", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T13:41:53.510", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17495", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "Other examples of intentionally altered readings to avoid confusion:\n\n * 私立【しりつ】 (private) & 市立【しりつ】 (city-run) → 私立【わたくしりつ】 & 市立【いちりつ】\n * 売春【ばいしゅん】 (selling sex) & 買春【ばいしゅん】 (buying sex) → 買春【かいしゅん】\n * 波線【はせん】 (wavy line) & 破線【はせん】 (dashed line) → 波線【なみせん】 & 破線【やぶれせん】\n * 市長【しちょう】 (city mayor) & 首長【しゅちょう】 (mayor in general) → 首長【くびちょう】\n\nLearning _only_ ばけがく is not recommended. Personally, I'd rather use orthodox\nreadings (on the left) whenever I can, because the altered ones (on the right)\nsound more or less jargon to me.\n\nAlthough avoiding ばけがく is not always possible, of course, I would sometimes\nuse \"ケミストリーの化学【かがく】\" instead of ばけがく, when I'm sure the listener can\nunderstand; but this is no more than my personal preference.", "comment_count": 7, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-18T15:25:32.463", "id": "17498", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-18T15:25:32.463", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17495", "post_type": "answer", "score": 17 } ]

[ { "body": "This is a [community\nwiki](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/11740/what-are-community-wiki-\nposts) post.\n\n * cup\n\n * コップ drinking cup\n * カップ coffee cup, etc.\n * iron\n\n * アイロン clothes iron\n * アイアン metal iron (Fe)\n * lemonade\n\n * [ラムネ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramune) nativized fruit-flavored pop soda\n * レモネード lemonade\n * machine\n\n * ミシン sewing machine\n * マシン machine in general\n * micro\n\n * ミクロ tiny\n * マイクロ micro (SI prefix 10-6)\n * pudding\n\n * プディング pudding in general\n * プリン custard pudding\n * strike\n\n * ストライキ strike (of workers)\n * ストライク strike (of baseball)\n * truck\n\n * トラック truck\n * トロッコ minecart\n\nここまで @virmaior さんと @非回答者 さんの挙げた例。追加\n\n * glass\n\n * ガラス glass (in windows)\n * グラス glass (for drinking)\n * sheet\n\n * シート sheet (of paper, film, etc)\n * シーツ bed sheet\n * stick\n\n * スティック stick\n * ステッキ walking stick\n * gum\n\n * ガム chewing gum \n * チューインガムの略\n * ゴム \"gum\" / (India) rubber \n * [輪]{わ}ゴム rubber band\n * [消]{け}しゴム eraser\n * ゴムテープ masking tape\n * seminar\n\n * ゼミ（ナール） seminar as college class (semester-long workshop)\n * セミナー seminar as style, form; introductory lecture\n * (milk) shake\n\n * セーキ nativized traditional style\n * シェーキ particularly in [Lotteria](https://www.lotteria.jp/menu/category.php?c=side) franchise\n * シェイク particularly in [McDonald's](http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/menu/dessert/) franchise\n * ruby\n\n * ルビ ruby annotation; furigana\n * ルビー ruby in general", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-19T08:08:51.593", "id": "17503", "last_activity_date": "2017-02-01T07:09:20.993", "last_edit_date": "2017-03-20T10:29:47.383", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17501", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "I happen to know one word that is borrowed 3 times in Japanese. \"Card\".\n\n * 歌留多（カルタ） for the game where someone says a sentence and you take the corresponding card.\n * カード for card in general, such as credit cards.\n * カルテ for hospital. this is the card that records what sickness etc you have.\n\nI think maybe two reasons cause these to happen. one is from different\nlanguage. one is from singular and plural form.\n\nAlso as a native speaker of chinese who happen to have his N1 passed, I\ncouldnt name a chinese word that satisfy your requirement. I mean it's only\none language and we don't have plural forms in the way english has.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T18:49:57.330", "id": "17564", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-25T09:10:12.743", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-25T09:10:12.743", "last_editor_user_id": "6610", "owner_user_id": "6610", "parent_id": "17501", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "The [Japanese\nWikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3#.E5.9B.BD.E5.90.8D)\noffers an explanation, unfortunately not backed by any reference:\n\n> ギリシャあるいはギリシアという名称は、ラテン語名の Graecia （グラエキア）がポルトガル語で Grécia\n> （グレスィア）となり、これが宣教師によって日本にもたらされ変容したとされる。\n\nSo it seems that the Latin name of Greece is `Graecia` became `Grécia` in\nPortuguese, which in turn became what it is in Japanese when (Portuguese?)\nmissionaries visited.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-19T09:32:12.073", "id": "17506", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-19T09:32:12.073", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "107", "parent_id": "17504", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "舒适区 is totally unfamiliar to Japanese. I don't even know what the first two\nkanjis are.\n\nAnyway, if you want to emphasize the negative aspect of \"comfort zone\" and\nwant to say \"the place you can't stay forever\", a good word for both of your\nexamples is 「ぬるま湯【ゆ】」 (literally \"tepid water\").\n\nぬるま湯につかる = stay safe, avoid challenge, lack vitality\n\n> The trip is an attempt to take the students out of their comfort zone. \n> この旅行は、生徒達をぬるま湯から抜け出させるための試みです。\n>\n> If you stay within your comfort zone you will never improve \n> ぬるま湯につかったままでは絶対に成長しないぞ。\n\n**EDIT:**\n\n安全地帯【あんぜんちたい】, or frequently abbreviated as\n[安地【あんち】](http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E5%AE%89%E5%9C%B0) by gamers, is more\nlike \"safety zone\", where you are _physically_ safe.\n\nIf you don't like metaphorical phrases, \"居心地【いごこち】のいい場所【ばしょ】\" is more neutral\nand usable both in the positive and negative ways. Ex:\n「居心地のいい場所にずっといても成長しない」「この部屋は居心地がいい」「居心地のいい場所を離れよう」", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-19T15:37:54.907", "id": "17511", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-19T23:29:27.880", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-19T23:29:27.880", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17507", "post_type": "answer", "score": 18 } ]

[ { "body": "You can simply preface the specific days with `<day(s)> は`. Ex.\n\n> * [本店]{ほん・てん}の[営業時間]{えい・ぎょう・じ・かん}は9:00から20:00までです。 → This store's business\n> hours are from 9:00 to 20:00.\n> * 金曜日は <another schedule> → A specific day\n> * [平日]{へい・じつ}は <another schedule> → Weekdays\n> * [週末]{しゅう・まつ}・[土日]{ど・にち}は <another schedule> → Weekends/Sat. & Sun.\n> * [月火水]{げつ・か・すい}は <another schedule> → Multiple days (here, Mon., Tues.,\n> and Wed.)\n> * [祝日]{しゅく・じつ}は <another schedule> → Holidays\n>", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-19T15:09:53.507", "id": "17510", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-19T15:09:53.507", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "17508", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "In these cases a kokugo dictionary really helps. If you're studying for N1,\nsites like Kotobank will be one of your greatest sources of information:\n[Definition of 至る on\nkotobank](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%87%B3%E3%82%8B-433135#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-08-26T03:01:40.637", "id": "27654", "last_activity_date": "2015-10-25T09:52:59.900", "last_edit_date": "2015-10-25T09:52:59.900", "last_editor_user_id": "10280", "owner_user_id": "11030", "parent_id": "17509", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "An important one to know is “至らない○○○”, where there is no stated object (i.e.,\n[object]に至らない) to where that something has not reached. In this case, what has\nnot been reached is _high competence_ or _perfection_.\n\n> * **至らない** 点がありましたら、ご指摘ください。 \n> _If there is anything unsatisfactory, please point them out._\n> * 私の **至らなさ** が招いた結果です。 \n> _This is the result of my incompetence. (There is only my incompetence to\n> blame.)_\n> * 私の **至らない** 英語でちゃんと伝わりましたか？ \n> _Did you understand my imperfect English?_\n>\n\nAnd then a pretty common idiom 至れり尽くせり, which is used to describe excellent,\npampering service:\n\n>\n> [至れり尽くせり](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E8%87%B3%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8A%E5%B0%BD%E3%81%8F%E3%81%9B%E3%82%8A)の航海経験 \n> _a very pampering cruise experience_", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-11-24T11:58:15.333", "id": "29434", "last_activity_date": "2015-11-24T11:58:15.333", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "888", "parent_id": "17509", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "The first phonetic spelling of Japanese was using kanji. This system was\ncalled [_man'yōgana_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27y%C5%8Dgana), named\nafter the [_Man'yōshū_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB),\nan anthology of poems from the Nara period written in this manner. Hiragana\nand katakana developed as abbreviated forms of these kanji.\n\nAlthough spelling wasn't entirely consistent, and multiple characters were\nused for individual sounds, Japanese spelling reflected the phonology of the\ntime fairly well, and by looking at changes in spelling over time, we can\nobserve sound changes such as the merger of kō-otsu.\n\nAt this point, I'd like to quote some passages from Frellesvig's _A History of\nthe Japanese Language_ (2010). Although I've tried to pare the quotes down to\na minimum, they're still quite long, so I've bolded the key sections in case\nyou'd like to skim.\n\nThe Japanese alphabet was, in part, standardized by the _Iroha-uta_. From page\n165:\n\n> [T]he establishment and awareness of distinct orthographic categories is\n> evident from three mnemonic word lists or poems from the first half of the\n> Heian period in which each distinct letter category occurs only once: the\n> _Ame-tsuchi no kotoba_ (or _Ame-tsuchi no uta_ ), _Taini-uta_ , **and\n> _Iroha-uta_ … These lists/poems functioned as a kind of ABC to remember the\n> distinct letter categories** …\n>\n> The three lists concur in not having distinct letters or representation for\n> _sei'on_ and _daku'on_. Chronologically, they all reflect a stage of the\n> language _after_ the merger of the _kō-otsu_ distinctions (as there is no\n> representation of these distinctions), but _before_ the merger of non-\n> initial /-p-/ with /-w-/ (950-1000, …\n\nAnd from page 168:\n\n> **It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the establishment and\n> dissemination of the _Iroha-uta_.** It is a defining event in the history of\n> Japanese script and writing, and more generally in Japanese culture,\n> linguistic and otherwise, … The _Iroha-uta_ finally defined the forty-seven\n> _kana_ letter categories which, with the sole addition of ん/ン for the moraic\n> nasal, still are in use today, enshrined the principle of not having\n> separate letters for _sei'on_ and _daku'on_ , and fixed the sequence of\n> letters in a list. …\n>\n> The _Iroha_ continued to function as the Japanese alphabet, as a linguistic\n> and meta-linguistic organizing principle until it eventually was replaced by\n> the _gojūonzu_ in the middle of the Meiji period…\n\nHowever, Japanese sounds continued to change after the kana became well-\nestablished, and spelling didn't always change with it. From page 173:\n\n> [F]or the _kana_ categories おをほ, いゐひ, えゑへ, うふ, わは, the mapping between sound\n> and writing became much less straightforward than it had been …, and as may\n> be expected, **this led to efforts to regularize the use of these _kana_\n> letters.** Rather than reforming the inventory and use of _kana_ letters\n> along simple phonographic lines, … **an etymological spelling principle\n> gained ground from around the beginning of the thirteenth century,\n> eventually resulting in the so-called _rekishi-teki kana-zukai_ (歴史的仮名遣い)\n> ‘historical _kana_ -usage, historical spelling’** … The simple principle is\n> that any word is to be spelled the way it was, or would have been, spelled\n> within the _kana_ categories of the _Iroha_ , before the sound changes\n> outlined [earlier in this chapter] took place. Thus _kai_ ‘shellfish’ (< OJ\n> _kapi_ ) is spelled かひ, _ai_ ‘indigo’ (< _awi_ ) is あゐ, and _kai_ ‘rudder’\n> (< _ka.i_ ) is かい. …\n\nOn pages 174-175, Frellesvig goes into more detail about who established the\nspelling principles and when. This section, I think, answers the core of your\nquestion:\n\n> **The etymological spelling principle was first explicitly proposed by the\n> poet and scholar Fujiwara no Teika** (1162-1241) as part of his\n> recommendations of the spelling of individual words … His primary concern\n> was the production of faithful editions of earlier texts, preserving their\n> original shape, and he based his spelling proposals on inspection of earlier\n> manuscripts and text versions in order to establish original, ‘correct’\n> spellings. It seems there was some consensus about the spelling of\n> individual words before Teika, at least to some extent on an etymological\n> basis, … but **it was Teika who explicitly established the etymological\n> spelling principle** which, together with his specific spellings of\n> individual words, came to be known as _Teika kana-zukai_ … and soon acquired\n> the status of a spelling norm, … Thus, from Kamakura to early Edo **most\n> literary writing was spelling according to the _Teika kana-zukai_.** …\n>\n> There are inevitably not a few mistakes in Teika's etymological spellings …\n> first of all because the copies of texts he had access to and worked from\n> already contained errors … Therefore later scholars elaborated on and\n> amplified Teika's work. **The _Kanamoji-zukai_ (completed after 1363) by the\n> monk Gyōa … is the first large-scale application of Teika's principles. It\n> lists spellings for more than a thousand words and for a long time served as\n> the major normative spelling reference.** … Mention must also be made of the\n> _kokugaku_ scholar Keichū (1640-1701) who provided the basis for the\n> _rekishi-teki kana-zukai_ in use today. **In his _Waji shōranshō_ (1695) he\n> set the etymological spelling principle on a firm philological footing with\n> systematic citation for specific spellings of sources which even by today's\n> standards are mostly reliable.**\n\nAnd this system lasted for quite a long time, with some small changes. Modern\nsound changes were largely ignored, and so over time the system became further\nand further divorced from modern pronunciation. From page 173:\n\n> At the beginning of the NJ [Modern Japanese] period further sound changes\n> took place which resulted in phonographic equivalence before the high vowels\n> /i, u/ … **rendering the _kana_ pairs じ/ぢ and ず/づ phonographically\n> equivalent.** By then the etymological principle had long been established\n> and so the principle for which _kana_ to use was fairly clear, although\n> usages which can be thought of as ‘spelling mistakes’ (for example writing\n> _mizu_ ‘water’ < _midu_ as みず rather than the etymologically correct みづ) are\n> frequent in Edo period NJ texts.\n\nAlthough historical kana spelling started out largely ignoring the voiced-\nvoiceless distinction, the voicing marks were occasionally used when it was\nnecessary to indicate pronunciation more precisely, and eventually, the\nvoicing marks became common. From pages 163-164:\n\n> The earliest attested use of diacritics to mark _sei_ or _daku_ on\n> _man'yōgana_ is from the late ninth century, and on _kana_ from the eleventh\n> century … _[S]ei-daku_ … remained un-noted in general writing in the [Early\n> Middle Japanese] period. … **[I]t was not until … the beginning of the Edo\n> period … that the _dakuten_ we know today became established and widespread\n> in general writing.**\n\nThe _dakuten_ was originally a voicing mark, distinguishing the voiced /g z d\nb/ from the voiceless /k s t p/ respectively. However, due to the sound\nchanges in the /p/ row, the phrase \"voicing mark\" is no longer entirely\naccurate—the /p/ row is now the /h/ row, and /b/ is of course not a voiced\nversion of /h/!\n\nSince /p/ was retained in some contexts, this row now represented three\nphonemes, and the _handakuten_ developed as a way to distinguish /p/ from the\nother two. From page 165:\n\n> However, towards the end of the [Late Middle Japanese] period Portuguese\n> Jesuit missionaries instituted the use of **a circle on the top right corner\n> of a _kana_ … in order to write unambiguously _pV_ , e.g. は ( _fa/ha_ ), ぱ (\n> _pa_ ). This was first used in _Rakuyōshū_ , a _kanji_ dictionary published\n> … in 1598.** Since then this practice gradually spread and is, of course,\n> today a fully integrated feature of Japanese writing.\n\nAnd less than a hundred years ago, the system was finally replaced. From page\n173:\n\n> **The _rekishi-teki kana-zukai_ was only abolished as the norm with the\n> orthographic reforms in 1946 when the _gendai kana-zukai_ … was adopted**,\n> in which the etymological principle largely has been abandoned, with a few\n> well-known exceptions.\n\nSo as you can see, the development of Japanese spelling over more than a\nmillennium was rather complicated. It started out as a relatively faithful\nrendition of speech, but pronunciation changed over time, and historical or\netymological spellings took hold relatively early on. There was some variation\nin convention and there were some errors made, and there were several\nrevisions of the system, and finally the addition of the _dakuten_ and\n_handakuten_ diacritics; but ultimately it was replaced in 1946 with modern\nspelling conventions, which were then [revised again in\n1986](http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/nc/k19860701001/k19860701001.html).", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-20T18:31:30.030", "id": "17517", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-20T19:11:20.897", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17513", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "There is a [Wikipedia\narticle](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D%E9%81%A3%E3%81%84#.E4.BB.AE.E5.90.8D.E9.81.A3.E3.81.84.E3.81.AE.E6.AD.B4.E5.8F.B2)\n(in Japanese) that describes how 仮名遣い evolved over the last 1000 years. And I\nfound [a page](http://www32.ocn.ne.jp/~gaido/kana/nigou201.htm) that describes\nthere _were_ people who tried to \"standardize\" (historical) 仮名遣い before 1946.\n\n * 藤原定家【ふじわらのさだいえ】 was the first person who tried to standardize 仮名遣い in [下官集【げかんしゅう】](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8B%E5%AE%98%E9%9B%86) published in the 13th century. This was thereafter called [定家仮名遣【ていかかなづかい】](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%9A%E5%AE%B6%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D%E9%81%A3).\n\n * 本居宣長【もとおりのりなが】, most famous Japanese 国学 scholar in the Edo period, defined [字音仮名遣【じおんかなづかい】](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AD%97%E9%9F%B3%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D%E9%81%A3)\n\n * There seems to be no official document that defined 仮名遣い in the Meiji period, and they automatically adopted the existing convention in the Edo period.\n\n * At 1912 and 1915 (Taisho period), 文部省国語調査委員会 officially published 疑問仮名遣【ぎもんかなづかひ】 which standardized how to write 291 words in question. Wikipedia says this was when the standardization process of so-called 歴史的仮名遣い was completed.\n\nI'm sorry I could not find the history of standardization of 直音表記 itself, if\nany.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-21T04:25:24.853", "id": "17518", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-21T04:25:24.853", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17513", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "In this case,the 何卒 means \"please\". It is a bit formal way to tell something\nto someone.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T10:45:15.190", "id": "17559", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T10:45:15.190", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5454", "parent_id": "17514", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "As something of a fossilized and archaic term, 何卒{なにとぞ} comes across as more\nformal and stiff. This would not be used in everyday talk. Possible use cases\nin the closing of formal correspondence might be:\n\n * ご質問{しつもん}等{とう}がございましたら **何卒** ご連絡{れんらく}ください。\n * **何卒** 宜{よろ}しくお願{ねが}い致{いた}します。\n * **何卒** どうぞ宜{よろ}しくお願{ねが}い致{いた}します。 \nSome folks consider this last one to be redundant or incorrect with both 何卒\nand どうぞ, as these have basically the same meaning, but I do find [numerous\nexamples of\nuse](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E4%BD%95%E5%8D%92%E3%81%A9%E3%81%86%E3%81%9E%E5%AE%9C%E3%81%97%E3%81%8F%E3%81%8A%E9%A1%98%E3%81%84%E8%87%B4%E3%81%97%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99%22)\nby what appear to be native speakers, so take that for what you will.\n\nBreaking this term down, Shogakukan explains that this is 何{なに} \"what\" + と\n(particle) + ぞ (particle), with the 卒 character serving as ateji. The ぞ isn't\nused much and might be less well-known. In this context, it basically serves\nas an intensifier, a bit like も after question words. The resulting meaning of\nthe phrase is a bit like English \" _whatever the case may be_ \", or \" _no\nmatter what_ \". Synonyms listed in the dictionary entry are どうぞして, なんとかして, and\nどうか. (Incidentally, the ぞ in なにとぞ is the same ぞ in どうぞ.)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T19:52:29.773", "id": "17565", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T19:52:29.773", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17514", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "You can get a lot of mileage out of prefixing the names of animals with 子【こ】-,\nwhich functions as a diminutive. For example, \"kitten\" is 子猫【こねこ】; \"puppy\" is\n子犬【こいぬ】; \"piglet\" is 子豚【こぶた】.\n\nThis also works for foxes - the best way to say \"kit\" is 子狐【こぎつね】.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-21T07:07:20.097", "id": "17520", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-21T07:07:20.097", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3437", "parent_id": "17519", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "There's the prefix 子{こ}- 'child', sometimes spelled 仔:\n\n```\n\n 猫（ねこ）　　→　　子猫（こねこ）　　'kitten' \n 牛（うし）　　→　　子牛（こうし）　　'calf' \n 狐（きつね）　→　　子狐（こぎつね）　'kit' \n 羊（ひつじ）　→　　子羊（こひつじ）　'lamb' \n 豚（ぶた）　　→　　子豚（こぶた）　　'piglet' \n 犬（いぬ）　　→　　子犬（こいぬ）　　'pup' \n 鹿（しか）　　→　　子鹿（こじか）　　'fawn' \n 馬（うま）　　→　　子馬（こうま）　　'foal'\n \n```\n\nIt doesn't work for every word, though. 小鳥{こ・とり} is 'small bird', and for\n'chick' you need to use something like ひよこ.\n\nBut it does work for your word, 子狐{こ・ぎつね} 'kit'.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-21T07:08:11.690", "id": "17521", "last_activity_date": "2016-05-14T10:19:40.480", "last_edit_date": "2016-05-14T10:19:40.480", "last_editor_user_id": "12271", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17519", "post_type": "answer", "score": 20 } ]

[ { "body": "I don't think one can objectively translate the more subtle points of\nJapanese, and you should aim for something that sounds the most natural in\nEnglish.\n\nAnyway, the first one sounds better to me.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-22T09:00:29.557", "id": "17530", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-22T09:00:29.557", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3848", "parent_id": "17522", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "Both are used, but the possible reading depends on the meaning.\n\n**during this time period** : このかん or このあいだ (I think both are OK)\n\n> I have been sitting here for the last two hours. **During this period** ,\n> nobody came. \n> 2時間前からここに座っている。この間【あいだ／かん】、ここには誰も来なかった。\n\n**the other day** : このあいだ\n\n> I went to a movie with my family **the other day**. \n> この間【あいだ】、家族と映画に行きました。", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-21T15:32:38.003", "id": "17524", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-21T15:32:38.003", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17523", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "As user4032 said in the comments, it seems to be [pitiable, young(and\nhelpless)](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/3329/m0u/%E5%B9%BC%E6%B0%97/)", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-14T03:00:38.063", "id": "17792", "last_activity_date": "2022-05-24T19:53:00.893", "last_edit_date": "2022-05-24T19:53:00.893", "last_editor_user_id": "30454", "owner_user_id": "29", "parent_id": "17526", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "This is a joke played on the common marketing phrase \"絶賛〜中\". The most common\nof them is \"絶賛発売中\" which means it's being sold and getting very high praise.\n\n~~Basically it's sarcasm.~~\n\n**EDIT:**\n\nI shouldn't have said sarcasm. It's more like just a word play with a bit of\nself deprecation. In particular, the speaker isn't trying to convey how bad\nthe situation is received by saying \"it's getting high praise\". Pure sarcasm,\nespecially those done subtly is really uncommon in Japanese.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-22T08:39:21.133", "id": "17528", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T07:13:41.357", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-23T07:13:41.357", "last_editor_user_id": "499", "owner_user_id": "499", "parent_id": "17527", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "> 私たちは、離陸するまで二時間、飛行機の中で座っていた。 \n> We sat on the airplane for two hours before it took off.\n\nApparently, all `離陸するまで`, `二時間` and `飛行機の中で` directly modifies `座っていた` in the\nsentence in question. `離陸するまで二時間` does not form a complete noun phrase by\nitself.\n\nInstead you have to say `離陸するまで*の*二時間` if you want it to modify `二時間` and mean\n\"the last two hours before takeoff.\"\n\n> 私たちは、離陸するまでの二時間、飛行機の中で座っていた。 \n> for the last two hours before takeoff\n\nAnd `離陸する` modifies `二時間前` in the following sentence, too:\n\n> 私たちは、離陸する二時間前に、飛行機の中に入った \n> two hours before it took off", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T01:25:22.733", "id": "17534", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T01:25:22.733", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17529", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I think these are in many cases semantically (not grammatically)\ninterchangeable, but the nuances are as follows:\n\n * 案外: _(adverb)_ The situation is not what the speaker originally expected, but he is not very surprised at it. \"Rather\" is the closest to this.\n * 意外: _(na-adjective)_ The situation is not what the speaker originally expected, and he is more or less surprised. \"Unexpected\" is closer to this, I think.\n\nOne can say 「うわ、意外！」 or 「いがーい！」 after seeing something unexpected, but cannot\nsay 「案外！」.\n\n * 驚くべき: \"Surprising\", \"Astonishing\". It has nothing to do with someone's prior expectation. The degree of surprise is higher than the other two. (It's almost 連体詞 to me, but I'm not sure)\n\n> この料理は案外おいしい。 This dish is more delicious than I had expected. \n> この料理は意外においしい。 This dish is unexpectedly delicious. \n> この料理は驚くべきおいしさだ。 This dish is surprisingly delicious.\n>\n> 意外な訪問者 An unexpected visitor \n> 驚くべき訪問者 A surprising visitor\n\n * びっくりする: _(verb)_ Be surprised. informal, but not a dialect.\n\n> この料理はびっくりするほどおいしい。 This dish is surprisingly delicious. \n> びっくりするような訪問者 A surprising visitor", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T02:25:25.380", "id": "17536", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T02:48:00.727", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-23T02:48:00.727", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17533", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "予想外 is another word, close in meaning to 案外, that was infamously used in\ndescribing the 3/11 earthquake (and also in Softbank commercials).", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T02:42:03.813", "id": "17537", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T02:42:03.813", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6647", "parent_id": "17533", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "For people of any countries, if they could still say something, it means the\ncontext is unexpected but not 100% unprepared surprising. Otherwise, I guess\npeople would just said \"ええ\"", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T02:53:34.900", "id": "17538", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T02:53:34.900", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6646", "parent_id": "17533", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "`ますので`is **not** wrong usage of grammar,but not appropriate. It's\ncalled`「バカ丁寧」` \n\n```\n\n 　　　このごろ毎晩、疲れて帰ってくるので、\n 　　　シャワーを浴びたあと、\n 　　　オンザロックを飲んでから\n 　　　軽い食事をして休むことにしています。\n \n```\n\nWords above are suitable for common use,words below are to much respection\nthat sounds like a little foolish.\n\n```\n\n 　　　このごろ毎晩、疲れて帰ってきますので、\n 　　　シャワーを浴びましたあと、\n 　　　オンザロックを飲みましてから\n 　　　軽い食事をしまして休むことにしております。\n \n```", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T06:16:07.530", "id": "17582", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T06:16:07.530", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6662", "parent_id": "17539", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "I think it is\n\n> 春だもの。 \n> 春だもん。 \n> (≒春だから。)\n\nsaid in an archaic way or in [役割語-\n老人語](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BD%B9%E5%89%B2%E8%AA%9E#.E8.80.81.E4.BA.BA.E8.AA.9E)\n(or maybe in a regional dialect).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T22:26:56.753", "id": "17548", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T22:26:56.753", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17540", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "This is a guess, but it might be 初志貫徹{しょしかんてつ}, or \"shoshi kantetsu.\" It is a\n四字熟語 compound that refers to having an idea/feeling/will and seeing it through\nto completion.\n\n<http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/idiom/%E5%88%9D%E5%BF%97%E8%B2%AB%E5%BE%B9/m0u/>", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T11:59:22.060", "id": "17542", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T11:59:22.060", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "17541", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "This phrase, 筋を通す, seems to actually show up in\n[dictionaries](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/118188/m0u/%E3%81%99%E3%81%98%E3%82%92%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8A%E3%81%99/)\nas a unit on a regular basis.\n\nUnfortunately it doesn't usually show up in the japanese->english section, and\nwhen it does the entry is\n[incomplete](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E7%AD%8B%E3%82%92%E9%80%9A%E3%81%99).\nSo I'll supplement the links given here with a couple examples from the Genius\nand O-Lex Japanese-English dictionaries:\n\n> 彼は最後まで **筋を通した。** \n> _He stuck to his principles_ to the end.\n>\n> 私は **筋を通さない** と気が済まない。 \n> I feel guilty if I _don't go through proper channels._\n\nAs\n[非回答者](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/users/4032/%e9%9d%9e%e5%9b%9e%e7%ad%94%e8%80%85)\nsaid in the comments, the phrase has a general meaning of \"following through\"\nwith principles or procedures (personal, official or cultural).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-14T02:24:38.233", "id": "17791", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-14T03:40:20.450", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "29", "parent_id": "17541", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "Only some words derived from 田舎, such as 「田舎っぺ」「田舎者【いなかもの】」「田舎臭【いなかくさ】い」, are\nderogatory.\n\nI think 田舎 itself is _not_ derogatory. Although this word typically has the\nnegative sense by its nature, saying 「私は田舎が好きだ」 or\n「私は[田舎で暮らしたい](http://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/26157/)」 is perfectly correct.\n\nOne euphemistic expression that means 田舎 is 地方【ちほう】. 「地方に住んでいる人」 usually means\na person who lives outside metropolitan areas.\n\nEven when you use 地方, of course there are many people who don't want to be\njudged by their hometowns, and talking about 都会 and 田舎 can be sensitive. But\nthat's beside the point.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T13:58:17.670", "id": "17544", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T13:58:17.670", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17543", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "I think `田舎` itself is not derogatory. And if you talk about `田舎` in general,\nit's definitely not a derogatory word.\n\nBut if you related `田舎` to some people, it can sound like derogatory. For\nexample `あの人は田舎から来た`. (But this may be the same in any language...)\n\nAnd the word `田舎` also can be used like an adjective meaning `less developed\n(city or town)`.\n\nFor example, `千葉は東京より田舎だ。` (Chiba is less developed than Tokyo.)\n\nIf you use `田舎` in this way, it can be derogatory to compared city's\nresidents. (But, of course, it depends on the context and the audiences.)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T18:51:02.530", "id": "17545", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T18:51:02.530", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5264", "parent_id": "17543", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "～のように can be used to set up a metaphor, as is being done in your sample\nsentence. In this case, the ～のように phrase is essentially a parallel\nconstruction and doesn't directly modify any specific thing in the rest of the\nsentence, serving instead to establish the overall mood or scene.\n\n * 一人残された俺は考えを巡らせている。 **どうしようもなく流れる濁流のように** 急激な感情の波を止められずにいる。 \nLeft on my own, I stir up my thoughts. **Like a muddy current flowing along\naimlessly,** I cannot stop the sudden waves of emotion.\n\nIf I were to diagram the latter sentence, it might look like the following,\nwhere each bit to the left and above modifies the next thing to the right and\nbelow.\n\n```\n\n どうしようもなく\n 　　　　　　流れる\n 　　　　　　　　　濁流の\n 　　　　　　　　　　　　ように\n \n```\n\n(the above is the metaphor)\n\n```\n\n 急激な\n 　　　感情の\n 　　　　　　波を\n 　　　　　　　　止められずに\n 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　いる。\n \n```", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T20:05:41.617", "id": "17547", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-23T20:17:51.810", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-23T20:17:51.810", "last_editor_user_id": "5229", "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17546", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "I would parse it as\n\n> [(どうしようもなく)流れる][(濁流のように)急激な]感情の波\n\n(The relative clause どうしようもなく流れる and the adjectival phrase 濁流のように急激な both\nmodify the noun phrase 感情の波)\n\n... or maybe...\n\n> [{(どうしようもなく流れる)濁流のように}急激な]感情の波\n\n(The relative clause どうしようもなく流れる modifies 濁流, the adverbial phrase\nどうしようもなく流れる濁流のように modifies 急激な and どうしようもなく流れる濁流のように急激な modifies 感情の波)", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-23T22:34:07.877", "id": "17549", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T06:49:23.310", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-24T06:49:23.310", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17546", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "類語例解辞典 says `結ぶ` in `実を結ぶ` is \"まとめて形にする、完成させる\".\n\n<http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/thsrs/1221/m0u/>\n\n> また、「実を結ぶ」「焦点を結ぶ」「夢を結ぶ」のように、まとめて形にする、完成させる意もある。\n\nこの意味の英語だと `integrate` という単語が tie/bond とも似た意味があるように思います。\n\n**EDIT**\n\nI do not believe this \"結ぶ\" is \"binding a fruit with a branch or a stem\". When\nI say \"実を結ぶ\", I imagine a fruit which grows by itself to be mature, but I\ndon't imagine the tree attached to the fruit.\n\nHere are some (Japanese) examples where 「結ぶ」 is apparently not related to\n\"binding\".\n\n * おむすび riceball\n * 結【むす】びの一番【いちばん】 the last match of the day, the concluding match of the day (in Sumo)\n * 結びの言葉【ことば】 closing address (in ceremony)\n * 結果【けっか】 result\n * 結末【けつまつ】 ending (of a story)\n * 結論【けつろん】 conclusion\n\nSeeing those examples, I think `結` and `結ぶ` also mean \"to integrate into its\nfinal form,\" or \"to wrap up something.\"\n\nI think 「焦点を結ぶ」 and 「夢を結ぶ」 can be understood in this way, too.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T03:16:53.630", "id": "17551", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T09:00:20.167", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-24T09:00:20.167", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17550", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "I think the meaning is derived from the tie between stems and fruit, also in\nthe case of apples or oranges. Fruit is born from stems, so there are\nnecessarily some ties between them, regardless of whether the ties are\napparent or not.\n\nYou can use 実を結ぶ ( or more formally 結実する ) not only in a physical sense but\nalso in a metaphorical sense \"to have a successful result\", as is the case in\nEnglish phrase \"to bear fruit.\"\n\nI think this expression is also derived from the \"ties\" between cause and\neffect.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T03:32:13.783", "id": "17552", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T03:32:13.783", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6654", "parent_id": "17550", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I checked an Old Chinese corpus.\n\nThe Kanji 結 was used in the sense of _to form an abstract relationship_ about\n2500 years ago, as in 結怨, 結親, 結好, etc.\n\nIt could also be used intransitively, like 怨結, 恩結, 気結, 冤結, etc., which sound\nlike _to clump/condense/congeal_ , but it only applied to abstract emotions.\n\nIt acquired the meaning _to bear_ no later than 400 AD. It not only applied to\nfruits (結果, 結実, 結子), but also buds (結葩), roots (結根), and plants (結篠).\nMeanwhile, I also found 結 was widely used for all kinds of things, such as 結霜\n(frost) , 結氷 (ice), 結营 (building), 結党 (organization), 結謀 (plan), 結縁, etc.\n\nIn addition, Buddhist was largely introduced in China during that period.\nCoincidentally, 結果 and 結縁 were used a lot in Buddhist scriptures. Also,\nChinese changed dramatically during 200-600 AD.\n\nIn conclusion, I do not see a direct relation between _ties_ and _stems_. The\nderivation seems to be:\n\n> to tie/braid -> to form/to be formed -> to make/to complete.\n\nYou may want to ask experts in the [Chinese Language Stack\nExchange](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/) for an authoritative answer.\n\nAs for the Japanese word むすぶ, I do not know what its original meaning is and\nhow it finally became the current meaning.\n\n* * *\n\nAccording to\n[学研全訳古語辞典](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%80%E3%81%99%E3%81%B6), it\nmeans 結ぶ can mean 形作る or 形を成す.\n\n> [一]自動詞バ行四段活用\n>\n> （霧・露・霜・水・泡などが）できる。生じる。形をなす。固まる。 \n> 出典方丈記 「淀（よど）みに浮かぶうたかたは、かつ消えかつむすびて、久しくとどまりたる例（ためし）なし」\n>\n> [二]他動詞バ行四段活用\n>\n> ④（物を）作る。構える。編んで作る。組み立てる。 \n> 出典方丈記 「六十（むそぢ）の露消えがたに及びて、更に末葉（すゑば）の宿りをむすべることあり」\n>\n> ⑤（状態・形を）かたちづくる。生じさせる。構成する。 \n> 出典徒然草 一三〇 「始め興宴（きようえん）よりおこりて、長き恨みをむすぶ類（たぐひ）多し」\n\n方丈記 and 徒然草 were written in about 1200 AD and 1300 AD. Since 訓読 had already\nexisted before those books were written, literate people must have used むすぶ to\ntranslate 結 for quite a long time. I did not see this meaning used in 古事記 and\n万葉集.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T04:51:41.803", "id": "17553", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T09:30:11.957", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:48:05.870", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "4833", "parent_id": "17550", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Regarding the Japanese word _musubu_ (as opposed to the kanji 結, which Yang\nMuye does an excellent job of explaining), I must side with naruto on this\none. The underlying idea does _not_ appear to be the _tying_ , so much as the\n_knot_ : something that **comes together** as a result of some process -- be\nit tying string, or growing a nodule, or coalescing from the void. One can\n_musubu_ a dream, or a flower, or a fruit or nut, or a conclusion or result.\n\nAfter poking around over a several days in search of information on the\netymology of this term, I cannot find as much as I'd like. むすぶ does appear in\n[at least these five\nplaces](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aetext.lib.virginia.edu%2Fjapanese%2Fmanyoshu%2F+%22%E3%82%80%E3%81%99%E3%81%B6%22)\nin the _[Man'yōshū](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB)_\ndating from roughly 347 - 759 CE, suggesting that this word has been around\nfor pretty much the entirety of the history of the Japanese language (where\n\"history\" == \"written record\"). Here's a summary of my findings.\n\n * These [two](http://xn--88j9btb.jp/) [pages](http://nozaky.com/imajiebinoliyou.html) state that 結{むす}ぶ is related to 産{むす}霊{ひ}, the Shinto life force as described on the [Japanese Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%80%E3%81%99%E3%81%B2). According to Shogakukan, this むすひ also manifested as むすび and even as むすぶ.\n\n * [This page on the Kyoto Sangyo University website](https://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/outline/shisetsu/musubiwaza/) makes a similar case that 結{むす}ぶ is related to 産{む}す _to produce_.\n\n * [This author](http://books.google.com/books?id=TfU_-jVc15sC&pg=PA386&lpg=PA386&dq=%22%E3%82%80%E3%81%99%E3%81%B6%22+%22%E8%AA%9E%E6%BA%90%22&source=bl&ots=Hyn45b3SJc&sig=OxOz51g5-_cT4XwahGWXYBwXrPA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-4KxU5K7CojwoASAjYGgBw&ved=0CGAQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22%E3%82%80%E3%81%99%E3%81%B6%22%20%22%E8%AA%9E%E6%BA%90%22&f=false) makes the case that the initial む in terms like 結{むす}ぶ and 睦{むつ}む has to do with _coming together_ , and argues that this む is also found in 棟{むね} _roof, peak of a roof_ from the idea of support beams _coming together_ at the peak of a roof.\n\n * [This page](http://d.hatena.ne.jp/HIROMITI/20090423) discusses the etymology of むすぶ, but the author's arguments seem a bit far-fetched (particularly his digression on ゆ), and his background and proclivities appear to lie in philosophy and idle musing rather than in researching and building a position from established facts. Despite this, he does touch upon the theory that むすぶ might be related to むす _to produce_ , variously spelled 生す or 産す and the root of everyday terms like 娘{むすめ} (from 生{む}す + 女{め}) and 息子{むすこ} (from 生{む}す + 子{こ}).\n\n * Exploring the possibility of 結{むす}ぶ as a compound of 生す + some element ぶ, ぶ appears as an auxiliary verb meaning _to be like; to become like_ , more commonly encountered in modern Japanese as the suffix びる in terms like 大人{おとな}びる _to be mature, to be grown up_. However, Shogakukan does not mention ぶ attaching to verbs, and in general, auxiliary verbs that suffix verbs only attach to the 連用形{れんようけい}, suggesting むしぶ instead. I did find some suggestions that ぶ might have attached to the 連体形{れんたいけい} ending in _-u_ , possibly as in classical 欠{あく}ぶ _to yawn_ (perhaps 開{あ}く _to open_ + ぶ), 煤{すす}ぶ _to become smoky, sooty, dirty_ (from 煤{す}す of same meaning + ぶ), 連{つる}ぶ _to line up_ (from 連{つ}る + ぶ, though this is 下二段{しもにだん}), or 睦{むつ}ぶ _to be or become friendly_ (though 睦{むつ} is not very verb-like; then again, it does appear to be related to terms like 共{むた} _together_ or 貴{むち} _[honorific]_ ).\n\nAlthough the etymological evidence that I can find is only circumstantial,\nsemantically speaking, 結{むす}ぶ does appear to have more of an emphasis on\n**coming together, coalescing, producing** than is suggested by the common\nEnglish gloss of _to tie_. From that perspective, the meaning in 実を結ぶ is less\nof a strange outlier and more of a natural semantic fit.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-30T17:30:16.613", "id": "17612", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-30T17:30:16.613", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17550", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "\"Teach\" in this case is simply \"tell\" -- i.e., \"inform someone of something\nthey did not know previously\". As to why folks in Japan use 教える instead of 伝える\nor some other verb, that may have to be chalked up to cultural, historical,\nand linguistic differences.\n\nADDENDUM:\n\nBy way of example of \"cultural, historical, and linguistic differences\", it\nbears noting that English and German, two quite related languages, use\ninterestingly different words for the same ideas.\n\nWhere English speakers would say \" _tell_ \" in the sense of \" _inform_ \", like\n\" _tell me your name_ \", German speakers would say \" _sagen_ \" -- cognate with\nEnglish \" _say_ \". So we could just as well ask why English speakers don't say\n\" _say to me your name_ \". Meanwhile, the German cognate for \" _tell_ \" is \"\n_zählen_ \", which instead means \" _to count [something]_ \" (compare English \"\n_tally_ \").\n\nEach language is its own cognitive web of ideas. Each word in a language\nrepresents a node or intersection in that web, and a node in any one language\nwill only ever imperfectly map to another node in another language. So it is\nwith Japanese 教える and English \" _tell_ \".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T06:27:27.100", "id": "17555", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T19:24:50.070", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-24T19:24:50.070", "last_editor_user_id": "5229", "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17554", "post_type": "answer", "score": 12 } ]

[ { "body": "ぬぐいがたい means “difficult (reluctant) to wipe away”, and it refers to the 軽視。\n一種の (“one type of”) is used like the English phrase “a certain…”\n\nSo, taking just the core of the sentence:\n\n私たちは、コトバに対して一種のぬぐいがたい軽視がある。\n\n“We have, towards words, a certain disdain which is difficult to wipe away.”", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T07:37:38.987", "id": "17557", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T07:37:38.987", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1059", "parent_id": "17556", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "コトバに対して[一種の[ぬぐいがたい軽視]] (or in other words)、軽く見る傾向がある\n\nThe ぬぐいがたい is 拭う (to wipe) + 難い (difficult to~). So when we say ぬぐいがたい軽視 we\nare talking about that 軽視 being something that it is difficult to wipe away.\nNext, do not think of 軽視 as contempt. The words immediately following are\nrephrasing it. 軽視 is just to treat something with little importance, or in\nother words, 「軽く見る」. I do not believe (someone please correct me if I'm wrong)\nthat 軽視 has any sort of enmity or ill will in it that you might find with a\nword like \"contempt.\"\n\nSo コトバに対して一種のぬぐいたい軽視 would be a sort of undervaluing or disregard of words\nthat is difficult to \"wipe away,\" if we use the metaphor of the original.\nUltimately the passage this is from is probably making a point about the\nimportance of words.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T07:41:32.617", "id": "17558", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-24T07:41:32.617", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "17556", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "1. Yes, 沢 is the modern replacement (aka 新字体【しんじたい】) form of 澤.\n\n 2. The Ministry of Education (文部科学省【もんぶかがくしょう】) is the body that officially determines which characters are and aren't official.\n\n 3. 澤 is still used in names, as all 旧字体【きゅうじたい】 (pre-reform) forms of current official characters (常用漢字【じょうようかんじ】) are valid for use in names (人名用漢字【じんめいようかんじ】).\n\n 4. [This site](http://www.benricho.org/moji_conv/14_shin_kyu_kanji.html) has a chart showing all of the reformed characters, with the new (新字体) forms on top and old (旧字体) forms on bottom in each row.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-24T16:41:38.310", "id": "17562", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-25T07:08:53.707", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-25T07:08:53.707", "last_editor_user_id": "4914", "owner_user_id": "4914", "parent_id": "17561", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "> Is the particle に okay?\n\nI'm afraid not. I think you can say it like this:\n\n> 田中さんはビデオゲーム **で** 遊んでいます。\n\nThis `で` is like \"with\", as in the instrumental (`具格{ぐかく}`) case, rather than\n\"in\" or \"on\".\n\nOr you can also say:\n\n> 田中さんはビデオゲームをしています。 \n> 田中さんはビデオゲームをして遊んでいます。", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-26T05:01:46.743", "id": "17573", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-26T16:38:26.957", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-26T16:38:26.957", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17570", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "There are a lot of different theories for how は works. One theory is that は\ncan follow case particles, but when it follows が or を, that particle is\ndeleted:\n\n```\n\n 　　が　＋　は　＝　　　は\n 　　を　＋　は　＝　　　は　　　(although there is a literary をば < を + は)\n \n 　　に　＋　は　＝　　には　　　([although sometimes に is dropped](http://usf.usfca.edu/japanese/Topicalization.pdf))\n 　　で　＋　は　＝　　では\n 　　へ　＋　は　＝　　へは\n 　　と　＋　は　＝　　とは\n 　から　＋　は　＝　からは\n 　より　＋　は　＝　よりは\n \n```\n\nAccording to Martin, は replaces が thirteen times more often than it replaces\nを, and I think it especially often replaces が at the beginning of a sentence.\n\nSo what is は replacing in your sentence, if anything? In your sentence, both を\nand に seem unlikely:\n\n * With this verb, を marks the thing being discussed (in your example paraphrased with について).\n * With this verb, で would be used instead of に, and で wouldn't be deleted. Also, if に were used anyway, I don't think it could be dropped before は--see discussion at the end of the answer.\n\nInstead, I'll suggest that は is replacing が. The subject is この本:\n\n> **この本が** 自然主義について論じている（こと） _(before topicalization)_ \n> **この本** ~~が~~ **は** 自然主義について論じている。 _(after topicalization, が is deleted\n> before は)_\n\nThe verb 論じる can be used in several different ways. Although the book can be\nthe subject, as in your example, so can the author, in which case the book\ncould be mentioned in an adjunct marked with で:\n\n> 著者が **この本で** 自然主義を論じている（こと） _(before topicalization)_ \n> **この本では** 著者が自然主義を論じている。 _(after topicalization)_\n\nThe flexibility in this case reminds me of English, where we can say:\n\n> 1. **This book** talks about naturalism. \n> _The book is the subject._\n>\n> 2. **In this book, the author** talks about naturalism. \n> _The book is part of an adjunct. The author is the subject._\n>\n>\n\nAnd so we find examples like the following (collected from the web and\n[BCCWJ](http://www.kotonoha.gr.jp/shonagon/)):\n\n> **この本が** 論じているのは、「戦後」とは何だったかということ。\n>\n> これは骨子においては、 **中島氏がこの本のなかで** 論じていることとほぼ同じなのではないだろうか。\n\nAt the end of your post, you give an example where に can be dropped. So the\nquestion is, why can に sometimes be dropped? Well, I linked to a paper above\nthat discusses the topic in more detail, but I think we can explain the\nexample at the end of your question like this:\n\n> 1a. **彼が** 英語ができない（こと） _(before topicalization)_ \n> 1b. **彼** ~~が~~ **は** 英語ができない。 _(after topicalization, が is deleted before\n> は)_\n>\n> 2a. **彼に** 英語ができない（こと） _(before topicalization)_ \n> 2b. **彼には** 英語ができない。 _(after topicalization)_\n\nYour examples are 1b and 2b. Of course, it's natural to use は there, but if we\nadd something like こと and turn it into a subordinate clause, は disappears,\nleaving behind the basic case marking of the sentence (1a and 2a).\n\nThis is what Shibatani calls a [non-canonical\nconstruction](http://www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/repository/81001551.pdf), and in\nthis case either が or に is possible:\n\n * When you add は to が, you get は.\n * When you add は to に, you get には.\n\nSince you can do either one, it gives the appearance that に is optional, but\nthe real difference is が versus に. Of course, this doesn't apply to your 論じている\nexample because に and が aren't in alternation there, so you're comparing\napples and oranges.\n\n(As an aside, adding こと does complicate things slightly, because it allows が-の\nconversion. But in this answer, I'm ignoring that fact.)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-26T19:17:11.267", "id": "17574", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-26T19:17:11.267", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17571", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "In a Buddhist worldview, birth and death are two sides of the same coin:\n\n\n\nBirth and death form the cycle on the left. To escape the cycle you need a\nspecial birth, i.e.「往生」, which lead you to \"the land of Perfect Bliss\".\n\nOn the other hand, in order to be polite to the 「死者｛ししゃ｝」 and his/her\nrelatives, people tend not to directly use 「死」 to refer to his/her death.\nThat's when the worldview above comes in handy.\n\n[A reference](http://qanda.rakuten.ne.jp/qa85386.html?rel=innerHtml), in which\na relevant article in Asahi Shimbun was quoted.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T00:41:30.510", "id": "17576", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T00:41:30.510", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5346", "parent_id": "17575", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "There seems to be two prevailing explanations about this.\n\n### ① 生 in 生前 is in fact 死, in Buddism\n\nIn Japanese there is a word `往生【おうじょう】`, which apparently means \"to go alive\"\nbut actually means \"to die\". This is based on the idea of 輪廻転生【りんねてんせい】 (cycle\nof existence) in Buddism, and \"往生\" can be interpreted as \"to go to the next\nexistence / the second life.\" So 生前 also is \"before he goes to the second\nlife\", hence \"before death.\"\n\nThe weakness of this explanation is that I feel \"生前\" is not a Buddism-origin\nword at all. It also fails to explain why \"死後\" is not \"生後\" then, anyway.\n\n### ② This 前 means \"before _now_ \"\n\n生前 has a special nuance which makes it not interchangeable with 死ぬ前 in certain\ncases. Note \"まだ\" and \"生きていた\" (past tense) in the dictionary definition.\n\nBasically, 生前 is only used after someone's death, by people who know he's\nalready dead. If you want to say \"I want to do X before I die\", you have to\nsay \"死ぬ前にXしたい\" . If you say \"私は生前にXしたい\", people will laugh at you saying\n\"まるでもう死んだみたい.\"\n\nSo 生前 should be interpreted not as \"before death\" but as \"before (now), when\n(he was still) alive\".\n\nBy contrast, 死後 can be used before he dies, and refer to something both in the\npast and in the future. (cf. 「死後の世界はどんなものだろう?」) As far as I know, \"生後\" has no\nsuch requirements, either.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T00:45:33.337", "id": "17577", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T08:22:36.767", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-27T08:22:36.767", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17575", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "もん = a colloquial version of もの\n\nin this case, this is in the expression というもの\n\nかも = a colloquial version of かもしれない\n\nit means \"probably\" and is a construction often used to soften what one says\nbefore.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T04:08:53.687", "id": "17579", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T04:24:34.787", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-27T04:24:34.787", "last_editor_user_id": "4091", "owner_user_id": "4091", "parent_id": "17578", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "かろう is a way of making だろう style volitional out of i-adjectives, so instead of\n～のではないだろう it becomes ～のではなかろう. It has a little bit of an older feel to it, but\nthere are some constructions where you need to use this. For example, you\nmight say どんなに暑かろうとも～. Sometimes people in fiction might say よかろう in place of\nいいだろう. Keep in mind that it is not a very colloquial construction (maybe in\nsome dialects it might be), but it means だろう.\n\nSo のではなかろうか = のではないだろうか", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T04:32:01.173", "id": "17581", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T04:32:01.173", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "17580", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "I did not look at the link very closely but I surmise this is part of a\ndiscussion on whether ら抜き言葉 make the language more ambiguous and whether this\ncould really matter in certain situations. I would read the extract as\n\n> 「られる」は私の父が信じていたほどには効能を持っていなかったのではなかろうか。 \n> Perhaps the \"rareru\" construction was not as efficacious as my father\n> thought.\n\nAs per the other answer, のではなかろうか basically has the same meaning as のではないだろうか.\nWhen translating such sentence endings I think the trick is:\n\n(1) recognise what is just a variation in grammatical style, \n(2) confirm whether the writer is asserting or denying the topic using the\ncontext and \n(3) when it comes to choosing the best English, there is no right answer so go\nwith what fits the passage best but make reference to where the sentence\nending lies on the \"I think/Probably\" spectrum of other possible sentence\nendings:\n\n〜だろう \n〜と思う \n〜のではないか \n〜のではないだろうか\n\nI find expressions containing words like 効能 unsatisfying to translate.\n\"Effective\" was my first choice but its appropriateness might depend on\nexactly what the father said. I chose \"efficacious\" because the following\ndefinition includes all the qualities that I imagine the father believed in:\n\n> Efficacious: (typically of something inanimate or abstract) successful in\n> producing a desired or intended result; effective (New Oxford American\n> Dictionary)", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-28T04:02:32.967", "id": "17593", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-28T23:00:02.373", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-28T23:00:02.373", "last_editor_user_id": "1556", "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "17580", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "As background to ssb's answer, the -かろう, -かれ, and related forms of い\nadjectives are a contraction of the regular old く adverbial ending + various\nconjugated forms of verb ある \"is / are\". So なかろう is a contraction of なく + あろう,\nexpressed in modern colloquial Japanese as ないだろう. You might run into よかろう\n(from よく + あろう, equivalent to よいだろう) in manga or anime.\n\nThe -かれ forms still show up in certain set phrases, like 遅{おそ}かれ早{はや}かれ \"[be\nit] sooner or later\", and arose as a contraction of く + あれ, the imperative\nform of ある \"be\", used here like the English subjunctive conjugation, such as\nin \" **be** it good weather or bad, I'm still going out.\"\n\nFor that matter, the past tense of い adjectives is also a contraction: -かった\nderives from く + あった.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-29T07:35:21.340", "id": "17597", "last_activity_date": "2015-10-06T22:18:54.830", "last_edit_date": "2015-10-06T22:18:54.830", "last_editor_user_id": "5229", "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17580", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "[French\nWikipedia](https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/Annexe%3aConjugaison_en_japonais/%E6%9C%89%E9%9B%A3%E3%81%84)\nlists many, though, not all forms of ありがたい.\n[Weblio](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A%E3%81%8C%E3%81%9F%E3%81%84)\nalso shows that **～がる** , **～げ** , **～さ** , and **～み** can follow ありがたい. \nThese examples, however, are not really necessary to address your problem. Try\nto think of ありがたい as the combination of あり and ～がたい. ～がたい just means\n**difficult**. Hence, ありがたい means **difficult to be**. That is basically the\nsecond meaning (ニ) on\n[Weblio](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A%E3%81%8C%E3%81%9F%E3%81%84).\nIf something is difficult to get, or rare, then we appreciate it more when it\nactually happens. \nIn my Japanese, your examples are actually quite in order, even though I'd\nprefer ありがたい案内 **much appreciated information**. The expression ありがとう（ございます）is\nbased in this meaning, but has acquired the non-compositional meaning of\n**thank you**.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T16:07:17.827", "id": "17587", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T16:07:17.827", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5362", "parent_id": "17584", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "By itself, `ありがたい` can mean \"thankful\" or \"fortunate\". So in many (all?) cases\nit can replace `感謝する`. Or any place where you'd use `ありがとうございます` you can make\nit more informal by just switching to `ありがたい` (although be careful in doing\nthis!).\n\nHere are some examples:\n\n> * 来てくれてありがたい → Thanks for coming. (Sounds flaky to me though)\n> * ありがたいことに私はいつも健康に恵まれている → Fortunately I have always been healthy.\n> * ありがたく招待を受ける → Accept the invitation with gratitude\n> * あなたの協力は実にありがたい → Your help will certainly be welcome.\n> * ありがたいことに朝になって雨はやんだ → Fortunately, the rain stopped in the morning.\n>\n\nIf you want to sound _really_ humble when thanking someone, you can use\n`〜ありがたく存じ上げます`.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T16:22:48.233", "id": "17588", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T16:22:48.233", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "17584", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "It can also be used when making a request for help. For example,\n何かアドバイスをいただけたらありがたいです。which I took from weblio.\n<https://ejje.weblio.jp/sentence/content/I+would+appreciate>\n\nThis is the best use of ありがたい in regular speech, in my opinion - i.e. in the\nconditional case where the English meaning is very close to \"I would be\ngrateful if...\" or \"I would really appreciate it if...\"\n\nThere are not many other ways to say this in quite the same way.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2018-05-28T05:54:10.623", "id": "59018", "last_activity_date": "2018-05-28T05:54:10.623", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "30095", "parent_id": "17584", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "> [勢]{いきお}い\n\nです・・・。\n\n（文字数が足りない・・・）", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T15:46:17.027", "id": "17586", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T15:46:17.027", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17585", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Looking through BCCWJ, I find the following examples\n\n> 其上的まで遣はすとは、何と **難有い** 御沙汰であらうがノ！\n>\n> 右に同じ猫伝をほめてくれて **難有い** ほめられると増長して続編続々編抔をかくきになる\n>\n> 人を救おうと云う **難有い** 志に感ぜず\n>\n> 先天地の御恩ほと **難有き** 物ハあらす\n\nso it appears that 難有い can indeed be read as ありがたい.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T16:37:37.610", "id": "17590", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T17:05:55.243", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "17589", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Shogakukan does list the 難有 combination with a reading of ありがた in one place,\nin the title of a kabuki play: 難有御江戸景清. Poking around online suggests that\nthis is read as ありがたやめぐみのかげきよ. The reversed kanji order would match Chinese\nsyntax better than Japanese, making me wonder if this is simply a _kanbun_\nstyle of spelling.\n\nEDIT:\n\nGoogling a bit more brought up [this OKWave\nQ&A](http://okwave.jp/qa/q928057.html) wherein the \"best answer\" claims that\nthis is originally the spelling for かたじけなし, changing in meaning over time to\nbe ありがたい and then used with that reading. However, the etymology for かたじけなし\ndoes not seem to have anything to do with 難い, at least according to\nShogakukan, and using 有 for なし seems far too much of a stretch.\n\n[This goo thread](http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/928057.html) seems to confirm my\nsuspicion, that 難有い is simply the _kanbun + kun'yomi_ spelling of 有難い, as\nsuggested by their _kanbun_ example of a different word using 難い where the 難\nkanji comes first in the spelling, but the かたい reading comes second in the\npronunciation.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-27T16:51:54.870", "id": "17591", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-27T16:59:19.720", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-27T16:59:19.720", "last_editor_user_id": "5229", "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17589", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "1. [第１号]{だいいちごう} \n\n 2. [実]{じつ}に \n\n 3. [数]{すう}[m]{メートル}ほど \n(Yes, it's \"several meters\" or \"a few meters\")", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-28T13:47:42.523", "id": "17595", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-28T13:47:42.523", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17594", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 } ]

[ { "body": "Like your example 述語となる品詞 already suggests, I've always understood it like\nthis:\n\nWhereas になる underlines a process of transformation from something to\nsomething, となる is more used when expressing \"make up, equal, take the position\nof\".\n\nI.e. 教師になる means the end of the transformation \"from student to teacher\",\nwhereas 教師となる would mean \"take the position of teacher\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-29T12:52:46.517", "id": "17600", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-29T15:18:23.713", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-29T15:18:23.713", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "6689", "parent_id": "17598", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "となる does sometimes mean である. But I cannot exactly answer your questions,\nbecause I do not know how to use it, either.\n\nIf you search\n“[となる](http://www.kotonoha.gr.jp/shonagon/search_result?query_string=%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B&lcontext_regex=&rcontext_regex=&media=%E6%9B%B8%E7%B1%8D&media=%E9%9B%91%E8%AA%8C&media=%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E&media=%E7%99%BD%E6%9B%B8&media=%E6%95%99%E7%A7%91%E6%9B%B8&media=%E5%BA%83%E5%A0%B1%E7%B4%99&media=Yahoo%21%E7%9F%A5%E6%81%B5%E8%A2%8B&media=Yahoo%21%E3%83%96%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B0&media=%E9%9F%BB%E6%96%87&media=%E6%B3%95%E5%BE%8B&media=%E5%9B%BD%E4%BC%9A%E4%BC%9A%E8%AD%B0%E9%8C%B2&entire_period=1)”\nin [BCCWJ](http://www.kotonoha.gr.jp/shonagon/), or\n[weblio](http://ejje.weblio.jp/sentence/content/%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B/3)\nyou can find many examples.\n\n* * *\n\nなる is often used instead of ある in these cases:\n\n> imperative: 強くあれ → 強くなれ \n> hope: 勇者でありたい → 勇者になりたい \n> potential: *勇者であれない → 勇者になれない; △勇者でありうる → 勇者になりうる \n> future: △勇者である → 勇者になる \n> (△ indicates the expression is grammatical, but probably means different\n> things.)\n\nI think the use of なる is explainable, and you can argue they all involve\nchanges, so _become_ is more appropriate than _be_. Nevertheless, the stative\nnature of ある seems to make it unsuitable in many situations.\n\n* * *\n\n> 結果は次のようになります。 \n> お釣りは100円になります。 \n> したがって、秘密保持規定を就業規則に盛り込むことは、実務的にも重要なこととなる \n> つまり，次の実行は条件式の判定となる\n\nPerhaps なる is used to represent to the dynamic process of drawing a conclusion\nfrom premises. Just like in English, you say “ **if** it is ..., **then**\nsomething **will** be ...”. \"Then\" and \"will\" have no temporal connotation any\nmore.\n\n* * *\n\n> 原因となる力 \n> 証拠となる事実 \n> 原料となる麦 \n> 基礎となる構造 \n> 慰めとなる物 \n> 中心となる星\n\nAnother reason to use なる seems that なる is the intransitive counterpart of する,\nwhich also shares a similar function of passive and potential verbs. ある does\nnot have the same function.\n\nIt seems that なる and する tend to be used to represent **non-inherent**\nqualities of something. So 中心となる星 does not mean 星 and 中心 are exactly the same\nthing. It means “星 is/can be taken as 中心”.\n\nYou can also find とする used in a similar way.\n\n> 金融を目的とする営業 \n> 東京を中心とする地域\n\nBut I guess they might as well be viewed as idioms.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-30T09:41:43.367", "id": "17609", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-30T12:47:06.573", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-30T12:47:06.573", "last_editor_user_id": "4833", "owner_user_id": "4833", "parent_id": "17598", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "[Entry for 痴れ痴れ on\nWeblio](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E7%97%B4%E3%82%8C%E7%97%B4%E3%82%8C):\n「いかにもとぼけたさま」 == \" _looking extremely stupid [possibly intentionally]_ \". I\ndon't think you want that one either. とぼける can mean _to play the fool_ , i.e.\nto play dumb while actually being smart, or _to dissemble, to feign ignorance_\n, such as when asked about something, but it can also mean _to be vacant,\nabsentminded_ and _to go senile, as with old age_.\n\nThe シレ in 痴{し}れ痴{じ}れ is from verb 痴{し}れる, which (confusingly) kinda means the\nopposite of 知{し}れる. Main definition for 痴れる in my copy of Shogakukan:\n\n * 「判断{はんだん}・識別{しきべつ}の能力{のうりょく}が働{はたら}かなくなる。ぼける。ばかになる。」 \n_To lose one's ability to make judgments or distinguish. To become senile or\ndotty. To become stupid or foolish._\n\nAs suggested by 非回答者's ignorance of the term, it's probably not used very\ncommonly in mainstream Japanese. The katakana spelling only gets [162 Google\nhits](https://www.google.com/search?q=%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%AC),\nactually collapsing to [just 38 hits if you click **Next** a few\ntimes](https://www.google.com/search?q=%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%AC#q=%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%AC&start=30).\nThe kanji spelling gets [677\nhits](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E7%97%B4%E3%82%8C%E7%97%B4%E3%82%8C%22),\ncollapsing to [just 109 hits if you click **Next**\nenough](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E7%97%B4%E3%82%8C%E7%97%B4%E3%82%8C%22#q=%22%E7%97%B4%E3%82%8C%E7%97%B4%E3%82%8C%22&start=99),\nof which the first page is all dictionary sites, and a number of the hits on\nthe next two pages are of sites explaining the term.\n\nIf you're trying to come up with a column title, this might not be the word to\nuse. If instead シレジレメカコラム is something you found and you're wondering what it\nmeans, my rough guess would be \"goofy mecha column\", with an emphasis on the\n\"ditzy\" shades of meaning in \"goofy\" (some of the Google image results for\njust 痴れ suggest \"ditzy\" in feminine ways; various images are NSFW, so I'll\nleave that as an exercise for the reader). Without more context, though,\nthat's just a shot-in-the-dark guess.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-30T15:23:14.653", "id": "17611", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-30T15:23:14.653", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17599", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "To my understanding as a native speaker, in all of the three examples,\nsentence (1) is written from the author's perspective, and sentence (2) is\nwritten from the perspective of a character in the story. The switching of the\nperspectives is in fact, in these examples, is signalled by the change of the\ntenses.\n\nThe sentences in Example 24 could be written in the following way without\nlosing the meaning:\n\n * (1) 広田さんは髭の下から歯を出して笑った。\n * (2) わりあいきれいな歯を持っている、とXは思った。\n\nwhere X is the person who was in front of Hirota. However, without 'とXは思った',\nreaders understand that it is X who thought 'わりあいきれいな歯を持っている'. By not stating\n'とXは思った' explicitly, the sentence (2) is somehow, I think, high-lighted as X's\nimpression. Besides, concise composition is preferred in Japanese text;\nJapanese readers are supposed to be always glad to bear the responsibility to\nunderstand the context.\n\nAlternatively, these sentences could be written in the following way, too,\nwithout losing the meaning:\n\n * (1) 広田さんは髭の下から歯を出して笑った。\n * (2) わりあいきれいな歯を持っていた。\n\nIn this case, as you said, the sentence (2) is written from the author's\nperspective. Therefore, the two sentences give information to the readers on\nthe same level, i.e., the author does not intend to highlight how shiny teeth\nHirota had for the readers.\n\nThe three examples you raised have the rather clear effect, i.e., implicit\nswitching of the perspective and highlighting the impression made in a\ncharacter's mind. However, it is not unusual to mix past tense and present\ntense (or maybe it is better to say -ta form and -ru form because past and\npresent are not distinguished literally by these forms in the example below),\nwithout much reason in Japanese story-telling. If sentences after sentences\nall end with -ta, I think readers feel the text boring. As long as it is clear\nthat things in the past are described in the context, it is acceptable and\nprobably natural to end a few sentences in the block of the description with\n-ru. For example, it would be difficult for anyone to explain why some\nsentences end with -ru and the others end with -ta in the following paragraph\nfrom \"1Q84\" by Haruki Murakami:\n\n>\n> 青豆というのは彼女の本名である。父方の祖父は福島県の出身で、その山の中の小さな町だか村だかには、青豆という姓をもった人々が実際に何人かいるということだった。しかし彼女自身はまだそこに行ったことがない。青豆が生まれる前から、父親は実家と絶縁していた。母方も同じだ。だから青豆は祖父母に一度も会ったことがない。彼女はほとんど旅行をしないが、それでもたまにそういう機会があれば、ホテルに備え付けられた電話帳を開いて、青豆という姓を持った人がいないか調べることを習慣にしていた。しかし青豆という名前を持つ人物は、これまでに彼女が訪れたどこの都市にも、どこの町にも、一人として見あたらなかった。そのたびに彼女は、大海原に単身投げ出された孤独な漂流者のような気持ちになった。\n\n(IQ84 BOOK 1 <4月-6月> 前編, 新潮文庫 む-5-27, p.13, 村上春樹 2009)\n\nFinally, I would like to stress that my comments above applies mostly to\nnovels. For technical reports and research papers, there should be different\nstandards and styles to tell facts accurately and precisely without any chance\nof confusion.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-11-23T00:05:28.927", "id": "19633", "last_activity_date": "2014-11-23T00:05:28.927", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "7266", "parent_id": "17601", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "I have done some research on the web and はぐった seems to be the past form of 逸る\nwhich means \"to stray from\", \"to get lost\".\n\nActually, in your sentence, the verb should have been 逸れる but according to the\ngoo dictionary the meaning of the two verbs tends to overlaps.\n\nSo, また昼飯{ひるめし}を食{く}い逸{はぐ}った means \"Again, I lost the chance to have lunch.\"\n\nReferences :\n\n * [The 逸れる entry in the goo dictionary](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/175523/m0u/) (mind the 3rd point)\n\n * [逸る entry in the goo dictionary](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/175509/m0u/%E3%81%AF%E3%81%90%E3%82%8B/)", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-29T21:36:53.323", "id": "17603", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-29T21:36:53.323", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4216", "parent_id": "17602", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "1. 保存{ほぞん} is a verbal noun. In other words, it's a noun that you can turn into a verb by adding する. \n\nIn your example, however, する has been omitted. To complete the sentence, we\ncan add it back in:\n\n> _1a._ ファイル **を** 保存 **する**\n\nThe combination 保存する can be treated as a single verb meaning \"save\". It takes\na direct object marked with を, in this case ファイル \"file\".\n\nIn your example, する is implied--nouns don't take direct objects, so even\nthough する is omitted, we understand the phrase as though it's there. This is\nrelatively common in certain contexts.\n\n 2. 保存するファイル contains a relative clause. We can treat it as derived from the example above:\n\n> _2a._ [ ファイル **を** 保存 **する** ] \n> _2b._ [ ＿＿＿＿ **＿** 保存 **する** ] ファイル\n\nHere, ファイルを has been pulled out of the clause (\"relativized\") and turned into\na head noun, which is modified by the rest of the phrase. Pulling it out\nleaves behind a **gap** , indicated with an underline above.\n\nNote that the direct object marker を disappears when you do this. There's\nnothing in 2b that tells you ファイル is a direct object. Although the role of\nファイル isn't indicated explicitly, the を role is the only one that makes sense,\nso we can understand the phrase anyway.\n\nWe form relative clauses in English all the time. If you aren't familiar with\nthe concept, take a look at the following examples:\n\n> _3a._ [ ボール **を** 蹴{け}った ] \n> _3b._ [ ＿＿＿ **＿** 蹴った ] ボール\n>\n> _4a._ [ I kicked **the ball** ] \n> _4b._ **the ball** [ I kicked **_____** ]\n\nAlthough ボール and _the ball_ appear outside the relative clauses that modify\nthem, it's clear what role they play.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-30T04:09:17.707", "id": "17606", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-30T04:09:17.707", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17604", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "> とのことです\n\nis a hearsay and a bit formal way.\n\nFor example, your boss said Mike is working at 碑文谷警察署の本町二丁目交番.\n\nThen, your business partner asked you where Mike is working at?\n\nSo you answered\n\n> 碑文谷警察署の本町二丁目交番とのことです。\n\nIf you like to express it in common way, you can say\n\n> Mikeは碑文谷警察署の本町二丁目交番で働いています。", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-30T05:50:45.947", "id": "17607", "last_activity_date": "2018-03-23T10:25:54.260", "last_edit_date": "2018-03-23T10:25:54.260", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "5454", "parent_id": "17605", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "Your intuition is correct in that this の is the same as the の in 兄の佐藤.\n\nSimilarly to the explanation in the similar question [How does the の work in\n「日本人の知らない日本語」?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/12825/how-does-\nthe-%e3%81%ae-work-in-this-sentence) 全世界注目の is a relative clause that is\nmodifying the noun セルゲーム.\n\nA pretty good example of this rule is here:\n<http://www.japaneseprofessor.com/lessons/beginning/modifying-particle-no/>\n\nThe relevant part is:\n\n> まほうの とびら mahou no tobira a magical door\n>\n> Mahou (magic) is a noun, but it's being used like the adjective magical,\n> which doesn't exist in Japanese. And while \"mahou no hon\" could be \"a book\n> of magic\" (filled with spells) or \"a magic book\" (itself enchanted), the\n> \"of\" interpretation for no does not exist in every case. So while \"of\" is a\n> possible translation of no, it's not always the best translation.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-30T20:26:32.677", "id": "17613", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-01T14:33:34.190", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "6666", "parent_id": "17610", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "I think you can parse it this way:\n\n> 全世界注目の [ [地球の運命を賭けた] セルゲーム ]\n\nThe first phrase, 全世界注目の〜, means the whole world's attention is on\nsomething--[see Weblio for more examples of\n注目の](http://ejje.weblio.jp/sentence/content/%22%E6%B3%A8%E7%9B%AE%E3%81%AE%22).\nI think the key to understanding this is that it relates to the following head\nnoun セルゲーム and not to 地球.\n\nThe second phrase, 地球の運命を賭けた, I think you understand already. I don't think\nthe earlier phrase is acting as a subject here.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-30T20:28:55.497", "id": "17614", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-30T20:28:55.497", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17610", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "There's something interesting going on here. The の in 注目の選手 can be easily\nexplained as a standard の used to string nouns together, like \"of\" in \"the\nplayer of attention\".\n\nHowever, in 全世界注目の選手, it gets harder to defend this standpoint. 全世界注目 is not\nreally one word, it occurs almost exclusively with の after it (Google gave me\nvery few examples with を and が, and they seem a bit strange, at least to me).\nAlso, the intonation, 全世↓界注目の, not 全世界ちゅ↓うもく, hints that we're not talking\nabout a compound noun here.\n\nIt seems more natural to treat this as a relative clause, i.e. 全世界注目の選手 =\n全世界が注目する選手. This is a productive pattern, e.g. 大統領推薦の○○ = 大統領が推薦する○○, although\nit seems restricted to formal contexts. There's also a parallel without a\nSino-japanese する-verb, e.g. 大統領率いる社会党, but here the only surface difference is\nthe missing subject marker.\n\nIt seems obvious that this syntax could come from Chinese/kanbun influence,\ne.g. Mandarin 全世界注目的公司, but others would probably be better at filling in the\ndetails. Also if anybody has better examples, feel free to comment or edit.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-01T01:41:48.463", "id": "17615", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-01T10:15:37.937", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-01T10:15:37.937", "last_editor_user_id": "1073", "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "17610", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "This is all-natural conversational Japanese using anastrophe and a minimal\nnumber of words. As I commented above, there is absolutely no ambiguity in the\nphrase for the native speakers. In turn, it is something J-learners are least\nlikely to say themselves as they simply will not arrive at it if they\n\"translate\" from their first language.\n\n> 「[困]{こま}ったものです。こういう[連中]{れんちゅう}には・・・」＝「こういう連中には困ったものです。」\n\nYou will hear the former structure far more often than the latter in real\nlife. The subject is not the unmentioned \"I\" or \"we\"; It is the unmentioned\n\"situation\" the speaker is in. The subject is certainly not 「こういう連中」 as one\ncould tell from the particle choice 「には」 rather than 「は」.\n\n「～～ものです/だ/である」 is a way of expressing (mostly negative) exclamations about\nsomething in a non-public manner. The speaker is complaining to himself more\nthan to anyone else; He is not about to go to the court. Note that this has\nnothing to do with べきだ as OP mentioned.\n\nAnother thing that is important is whether one could detect the feeling of\n\"suffering passive\" in the phrase. It is there in nuance if not in grammar. In\ngrammar, the phrase is not in passive voice. 「～～には」 tells us what it is that\nis causing the suffering.\n\nSo, no matter how you translate this, it is not going to look like the\noriginal in its grammatical structure. Whatever seems fit will naturally be\npicked.\n\n\"I'm really having a hard time with these guys.\", \"These dudes are giving me a\nlotta troubles.\", \"It's a troublesome situation with these guys.\", etc.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-01T23:00:11.553", "id": "17621", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-01T23:00:11.553", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17616", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Your hypothesis that カツ stems from _cutlet_ seems correct. According to\n[kotobank](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%84?dic=daijirin), カツ is the\nshortened form of カツレツ, i.e. _cutlet_. See\n[here](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B1%9A%E3%82%AB%E3%83%84#.E6.AD.B4.E5.8F.B2)\nfor its culinary history.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-01T13:56:42.617", "id": "17618", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-01T13:56:42.617", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5362", "parent_id": "17617", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "A couple of things to add:\n\n * When you hear just `カツ`, it is usually indicative of **_pork_** cutlets (`[豚]{とん}カツ`). Any other types are listed explicitly with what they actually are. For example, chicken cutlets are `チキンカツ`, beef is `ビーフカツ`, etc.\n * `カレー` is Japanese style curry, not to be confused with `カリー` which is Indian style curry.\n * カツ丼 is the greatest food ever!", "comment_count": 9, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-01T14:56:54.117", "id": "17620", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-01T14:56:54.117", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "17617", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "The word katsu (カツ) is just the English word, \"cuts\" written as katakana\naccording to how a Japanese person would pronounce it (ka tsu).\n\nAlso, as pointed out above, it may have its origins from the word \"cutlets\"\nwhich is written out as カツレツ (ka tsu re tsu).", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-02T05:09:34.397", "id": "17624", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-02T05:09:34.397", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6712", "parent_id": "17617", "post_type": "answer", "score": -2 }, { "body": "> the katsu karē (カツカレー) dish was from English inspiration originally\n\nAlthough カレー(curry), or カレーライス(curry rice), has a British inspiration as\n@virmaior says ([Curry was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era\n(1868–1912) by the British...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_curry) /\n[今、日本人が一般に食べている「カレーライス」は、「インドのカレー」ではなく、「イギリスのカレー」です](http://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/4415/curry/profile/profile2.html)),\nthe dish [カツカレー(curry rice with pork\ncutlet)](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%84%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC)\nitself was not inspired by British cuisine; it is a combination of\n[豚]{とん}カツ(tonkatsu/pork cutlet) and カレーライス, which is said to have been\ninvented and first served at the restaurant called\n[スイスグリル](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B0%E3%83%AA%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B9%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B9#.E3.82.AB.E3.83.84.E3.82.AB.E3.83.AC.E3.83.BC.E3.81.AE.E7.99.BA.E7.A5.A5)\nin Tokyo in 1948.\n\n> the word 'katsu' is coming from cutlet and 'karē' would be curry\n\nHmm... yes and no; the term カツカレー was coined from \"豚カツ\" + \"カレーライス\", rather\nthan from \"cutlet\" + \"curry\".\n\nThe term [豚]{とん}カツ was coined from \"豚(pork)\" and \"カツレツ(cutlet)\"([The term\n\"tonkatsu\" (pork katsu) was coined in the\n1930s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkatsu#History)), though the dish\nカツレツ(katsuretsu) originated from a French dish\n\"cotelette\"([明治時代に日本に伝来したフランス料理のコートレット（Cotelette、英語ではカットレット\nCutlet）を原型とする料理である。](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%84%E3%83%AC%E3%83%84#.E6.A6.82.E8.A6.81)\n/\n[東京銀座のフランス料理店「煉瓦亭」にて、フランス料理として提供されていた。](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%84%E3%83%AC%E3%83%84#.E6.AD.B4.E5.8F.B2)).", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-02T08:19:11.583", "id": "17627", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-02T15:05:25.640", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-02T15:05:25.640", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17617", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "The only difference between the two phrases is in their formality level.\n\n> どのように is more formal (and polite) than どうやって.\n\nIf you are familiar with the verb やる, you know that it is a\ncasual/conversational verb. やって is a form of やる.\n\nWhat is the verb that is more formal than やる but has the same meaning? It is\nする.\n\n> Thus, you can also say どのようにして to mean \"how\" as して is a form する.\n>\n> する : やる = して： やって\n\nExtra: This means that you can say どうして to mean \"how\" as well, but careful\nspeakers tend to avoid using it because どうして can also mean \"why\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-02T10:57:11.480", "id": "17630", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-02T10:57:11.480", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17622", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "どうやって and どのように are not exactly the same.\n\nどのように is How? - どうやって is By what?\n\nどうやって = どう (how) + やって (a continuative form of do). \nどうやって is like asking for experience.\n\n> 例：彼はどうやってここへ来たのですか。 \n> How did he come here? = By what means did he come here?\n\nIn such case, you cannot use どのように\n\nIf you ask the way (the methods or tools) of doing something, you can use both\n「どのように」and 「どうやって」.\n\n> 例：これはどのように食べますか/ これはどうやって食べますか。 \n> How can I eat this?\n\nIf you want to ask methods or tools which also have the meaning of \"in what\nway\". You must use どう or どのように.\n\n> 例：「AとBはどう / どのように違いますか。」 \n> In what way are A and B different?\n\nIn this case, you cannot use どうやって.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2022-02-05T21:40:12.910", "id": "93299", "last_activity_date": "2022-02-06T01:20:01.500", "last_edit_date": "2022-02-06T01:20:01.500", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "50476", "parent_id": "17622", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "「って」 is the only correct answer here.\n\nWhen someone asks the question 「ねえ, 田中さん（ ）どんなひと？」, the asker should basically\nhave no knowledge of Tanaka, correct?\n\nThat is where the **topic-introducing 「って」** comes into place --- \"this Tanaka\nguy\", \"this guy called --- what was his name, Tanaka?\", etc.\n\nUsing 「が」 is very unnatural (I would call it plain wrong, actually) when\nasking about something/someone you know little to nothing about. You say 「これ\n**は** なんですか。」 and never 「これ **が** なんですか。」.\n\nRegarding 「は」, which is not among the choices given, it is \"possible\" to use\nit. BUT it requires a certain condition under which the question\n「ねえ、田中さんはどんな人？」 is asked. The condition is that the asker has already asked\nabout at least one other person before asking about Tanaka. If Tanaka is the\nonly (or first) person you are asking about, the only correct choice is to use\n「って」.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-02T11:46:31.627", "id": "17632", "last_activity_date": "2021-06-24T13:23:57.877", "last_edit_date": "2021-06-24T13:23:57.877", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17623", "post_type": "answer", "score": 19 } ]

[ { "body": "側 (がわ) is 'side', and it's being modified by the phrase before it. You can\nthink of the two 'sides' here as the side that does the interview, and the\nside is interviewed.\n\nAlthough literally it's 'side', you could also think of it as 'perspective',\nor 'being in someone else's shoes'.\n\n未経験者を面接をする[側] the side/perspective of those that interview people who don't\nhave experience\n\nYou can probably figure out the rest, but I think it would be close to say\n\"I'll try to think about how the people who interview people with no\nexperience feel\"", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-02T10:24:18.337", "id": "17628", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-02T10:24:18.337", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4075", "parent_id": "17625", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "側 is read がわ in this context and it means \"standpoint\", \"side\", \"party\", etc.,\nall of which amounts to \"person(s) involoved\" in the action described just\nbefore the 側.\n\n> [面接]{めんせつ}をする[側]{がわ} means \"interviewer(s)\"\n>\n> 面接をされる側 means \"interviewee(s)\"\n\nThus, 「[未経験者]{みけいけんしゃ}を面接をする側の気持ちを考えてみる」 means:\n\n> \"Try(ing) to consider the feelings of those interviewing inexperienced\n> applicants\"", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-02T10:28:55.627", "id": "17629", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-02T10:28:55.627", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17625", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "This is a common pattern of taking a noun + particle + verb combination and\nshortening the verb to it's stem form:\n\nAs Choko points out in her comment to your question:\n\n> 日に焼ける drops the particle に and changes 焼ける into the stem 焼け => 日焼け\n>\n> 炭火で焼く drops the particle で and changes 焼く into the stem 焼き => 炭火焼き\n>\n> 家で飲む drops the particle で and changes 飲む into the stem 飲み => 家飲み\n>\n> 花を見る drops the particle を and changes 見る into the stem 見 => 花見\n>\n> 道を行く drops the particle を and changes 行く into the stem 行き => 道行き\n\nThere are similar phrases that aren't created exactly in this way, but\nsimilarly. For example:\n\n> 遊び食べ\n\nAnd others that have more nuanced meanings\n\n> 裏行き does not just mean 裏で行く but references a distance.\n\nSo it's not a fast rule, but holds in many cases.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-02T19:48:14.193", "id": "17634", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-02T19:48:14.193", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "6666", "parent_id": "17633", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "These are (deverbal) noun-noun compounds:\n\n 1. The first noun is either an **adjunct** to or an **argument** of the verb.\n 2. The second noun is a **deverbal** form of a verb—specifically, its 連用形 (\"continuative form\"), a verb form used as a noun.\n\nWhen the nouns are put together,\n[rendaku](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendaku) (\"sequential voicing\")\nsometimes occurs:\n\n 1. If the first noun is an **adjunct** , rendaku usually applies ( **96%** of the time, if possible).\n\n 2. If the first noun is an **argument** , rendaku sometimes applies ( **44%** of the time, if possible).\n\nThe numbers above are from Kyoko Yamaguchi's paper [_Accentedness and Rendaku\nin Japanese Deverbal Compounds_\n(2011)](http://www3.nacos.com/lsj/modules/documents/LSJpapers/journals/140_forum_yamaguchi.pdf),\nwhich discusses this topic in more detail.\n\nSome examples from Tsujimura's [_Introduction to Japanese\nLinguistics_](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1444337734) to\nillustrate the difference:\n\n> 絵 **を** 描く → 絵描き（え **か** き） 絵 **を** is an **argument** \n> 手 **で** 書く → 手書き（て **が** き） 手 **で** is an **adjunct** , rendaku occurs\n>\n> 物 **を** 干す → 物干し（もの **ほ** し） 物 **を** is an **argument** \n> 陰 **で** 干す → 陰干し（かげ **ぼ** し） 陰 **で** is an **adjunct** , rendaku occurs\n>\n> 魚 **を** 釣る → 魚釣り（さかな **つ** り） 魚 **を** is an **argument** \n> 磯 **で** 釣る → 磯釣り（いそ **づ** り） 磯 **で** is an **adjunct** , rendaku occurs\n\nVoicing happens with arguments as well, but less than half of the time:\n\n> 人 **を** 買う → 人買い（ひと **か** い） 人 **を** is an **argument** \n> 人 **を** 殺す → 人殺し（ひと **ご** ろし） 人 **を** is an **argument** , rendaku occurs\n> anyway\n\nDeverbal compounds of this sort are quite common in Japanese.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-03T12:34:49.683", "id": "17644", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-03T13:57:03.237", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17633", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "The form of 花 with a gap in the radical making it 4 strokes instead of 3 is\ncalled the 旧字体 (old character form) and the one that is used most of the time\nthese days is called 新字体.\n\nNeither is correct or sloppy, they're just two different ways of writing the\nsame character. This is related to the fact that characters in general have\nbeen simplified in different ways over the years, starting from when they were\ndrawn in the old days in China (艸 for this specific radical). You can see more\nabout this radical here:\n\n<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%89%B9>\n\n<http://www.s-kougen.com/kusaka.htm>\n\nI also use a kanji reference dictionary called 漢語林 that lists the 旧字体 along\nwith each 新字体.\n\nIt seems to me that 旧字体 tend to be used more often in names than in any other\nwords.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-03T03:41:19.963", "id": "17637", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-03T03:41:19.963", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6666", "parent_id": "17635", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "`自然と人は渡し舟の多いこの町を通ることになるのだ。` is not referring to nature and people. It's a\nstatement about what people do as one might reasonably be able to deduce given\nthe nature of the situation. It's like saying \"naturally\" in English. 自然と\nbecomes more like an adverb and not a noun with which something is done.\n\nIf we simplify it a little bit, we can see this: `人はこの町を通る`. If we find the\nroots of the sentence we can get a better idea of what's going on around it.\nSo let's start from the idea that people are going through the town.\n\n`橋がないせいで` means that whatever is happening is happening, as you noted, because\nthere is no bridge. With our new knowledge of what 自然と means, can say infer\nthat whatever is going on is happening as a natural consequence of there being\nno bridge. So, naturally, people are passing through this town because there's\nno bridge. But why this town?\n\n`渡し船の多いこの町`: this town which has a lot of ferries. This is how you should\nparse this part. `の` is like `が`, and `この` is thrown in at a spot that feels\nweird for English speakers. But it makes sense. There's no bridge, so\nnaturally people pass through this town that has a lot of ferries. We assume\nthat this status as a port for ferry passage contributes to the town's\neconomic prosperity mentioned in the beginning.\n\nSo again, here's how to parse the tricky part:\n\n`[ スラウド川には橋がないせいで ] [ 自然と ]->[ 人は [[ [ 渡し舟の多い ] この町 ] を通る ] [ ことになる ] [ のだ ]。`\n\nThere might be better ways to bracket it all off, but I tried to show where we\ncan split it to get a good idea of what is doing what.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-03T05:09:43.733", "id": "17638", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-03T05:17:24.610", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-03T05:17:24.610", "last_editor_user_id": "1797", "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "17636", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Your sentence is grammatically correct. について is a good way to say \"about\" in\nmany situations. However, in this case I think it would be more natural to say\n\n> 今、東京から京都まで行く方法 **を調べて** います。 \n> I'm [ looking up / reading about ] how to get from Tokyo to Kyoto.\n\n調べる is often translated to \"investigate, examine\", but it's a very common word\nand I think \"look up, read about\" are equally valid translations.\n\nについて読む sounds a bit like you are reading, say, a monograph on historical\ntravel routes.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-03T10:35:36.660", "id": "17642", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-03T10:35:36.660", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "17639", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "There is no \"correct\" way. With some names there has become a standard way,\nsuch as スミス for Smith. In these circumstances the transition from foreign\npronunciation is pretty straight forward.\n\n> The \"u\" in スミ is dropped in most pronunciations of the word making it\n> similar to Sm and there is no closer way to represent this sound.\n>\n> mi => ミ is straight forward.\n>\n> ス is the closest approximation of the ending \"th\" sound in Japanese.\n\nBut for other names that are uncommon (i.e. if there's multiple katakana\nrenditions of the word most likely almost no one would notice) then it comes\ndown to coming up with a valid approximation.\n\nTake the name Brekke.\n\n> Br => ブレ this is natural because again the \"u\" sound is dropped and the \"re\"\n> is close to レ and the same when displayed using romaji.\n>\n> The hard part is how to end the word. If you follow the romaji and use\n> ブレッケー, which an acquaintance of mine had done by a company in Japan.\n> However, the pronunciation of the name is closer to ブレッキー.\n\nIn this case, which is the \"correct\" version? Neither and both.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-03T16:10:06.753", "id": "17646", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-03T16:52:49.480", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "6666", "parent_id": "17645", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "Usually, words are transcribed based on how they sound--or how it is imagined\nthat they'd sound, since many words are borrowed into Japanese via print and\naren't actually heard.\n\n 1. A Spanish-speaking friend offers /ko'βaksin/ as an [IPA transcription](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipa) of _Cobaxin_. Based on that, I think you can straightforwardly transcribe the Spanish version of the name in Japanese as コバクシン, replacing the consonants with their closest equivalents and adding the [epenthetic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epenthesis) vowel /u/. \n\nThe vowel /u/ is the most common epenthetic vowel in Japanese and is usually\nthe default choice after consonants other than /t/ and /d/. After these two\nconsonants, adding /o/ is most common.\n\nThese vowels are added when you need to break up an illegal consonant cluster.\nConsider the English word _strength_ :\n\n> ストレングス /sutoreɴgusu/\n\nHere, English _strength_ /strɛŋθ/ has the consonant cluster /str/, which is\nnot possible in Japanese, so vowels are inserted to break it up, resulting in\n/sutor/. (However, since the English has no /g/ sound in most dialects, we can\nguess that this transcription was made from an imagined pronunciation based on\nspelling. This is often the case.) As you can see, /u/ is added in each case,\nexcept after /t/, where /o/ is inserted instead.\n\nGenerally speaking, you can get pretty far by adding these two vowels whenever\nnecessary. But giving a complete set of rules for transcription is probably\nbeyond the scope of a single answer, I'm afraid; I'll focus on _Cobaxin_ for\nthe rest of this answer.\n\n 2. You indicate that in English the final vowel of _Cobaxin_ is more like /e/ than /i/. If that's correct, then I think you could write コバクセン instead.\n\n 3. In your transcription, you've written `z` rather than `s`. If you think this is more accurate, then コバクジン or コバクゼン would be fine, again depending on the final vowel.\n\n 4. If you intend to write /si/ or /zi/, I would stick to the standard シ／ジ rather than write セィ／ゼィ or スィ／ズィ. \n\nI don't think Japanese speakers usually distinguish [si] from [ɕi] or [zi]\nfrom [ʑi], so there isn't a lot of use in distinguishing a \"straight\" /s/ or\n/z/ from the [allophone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allophone) that usually\noccurs before /i/. If you did write it with the less usual katakana\ncombinations, I don't think people would pronounce it the way you intend very\noften.\n\nSo, depending on how you think the `s` and `i` should be pronounced:\n\nコバクシン・コバクセン \nコバクジン・コバクゼン\n\nI would use one of those.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T00:59:50.877", "id": "17652", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T00:59:50.877", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17645", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "When you have never met someone (or have no way of knowing the person, e.g. on\nthe phone), どちら様ですか is how to enquire for someone's name/identity. When the\ncircumstances/your memory suggest that you have met before, but you simply\ndon't recall who they are, どちら様でしたか is more natural.\n\n(Note that, by extension, you can also use どちら様でしたか in the first case by\ndefaulting to the situation that you simply didn't remember any encounter,\nassuming a fault in your memory. Putting yourself (and your family) down is\nconsidered polite in many other situations. どちら様でしたか also less direct (it's\nreferring to a possibly hypothetical past event) than どちら様ですか and thus can be\nconsidered more polite.)\n\nHere, どちら様でしたか \"Excuse me, but who were you again?\" is slightly more polite\nthan どちら様ですか \"Excuse me, but who are you?\", because it allows for the main\ncharacter to simply not remember the previous encounter.\n\nThis is especially true since the circumstances seem to suggest that the main\ncharacter met the woman before, since she seems confident enough to call him\nby his name (rather than asking すみませんが、X様ですか).\n\nAsking どちら様ですか is more direct and might be (mis)understood to be carrying the\nnuance of \"I definitely don't know you\" suggesting that the woman is rude by\nnot introducing herself first.\n\nIn a word, the main character is handling the situation in the most courteous\nmanner possible.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T00:04:53.970", "id": "17650", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T12:27:55.783", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-04T12:27:55.783", "last_editor_user_id": "1628", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "17649", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "It's used for politeness. Here's what Martin writes in his 1975 _Reference\nGrammar of Japanese_ , p.603:\n\n> **Sometimes the perfect is used more for politeness than for time\n> reference** : あなたはどなたでした = お名前は何とおっしゃいましたか 'What did you say your name was?'\n> ( **when the person has actually not yet said** ); 判子をお持ちでしたね 'You have your\n> chop (= signature-seal) with you, I presume'.\n\nNote that Martin refers to the 〜た form as the \"perfect\" rather than \"past\ntense\" form. This usage of た with present time reference is usually only in\nquestions, as noted by Hasegawa in her paper [_Tense-Aspect Controversy\nRevisited: the -ta and -ru forms in\nJapanese_](http://hasegawa.berkeley.edu/Papers/Hasegawa99.pdf) (1999), which\nwas pointed out by Tim in the comments section.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T04:06:21.993", "id": "17655", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T04:06:21.993", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17649", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "無理しないでください is one very common way of saying something along the lines of\n\"don't do more than you can\".\n\nIt's also used to mean \"don't wear yourself out\" in a physical sense, but can\nbe used in virtually any context.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T01:06:36.990", "id": "17653", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T01:06:36.990", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "17651", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "The expression「無理しないで」is used in most situations for showing concern for\nsomeone who may expose herself/himself in doing an \"impossible\" activity that\npushes them to their limits while a more refined 「ご無理なさいませんよう、ご自愛ください」could\nalso be used. 「ご無理なさらずに」 which literally translates to \"don't do the\nimpossible\" is adopting 「なさる」as an elegant way of saying「する」。\n\nIf the intention is to express concern for someone healing and recovering\ntheir health from sickness one could use 「お大事に」as a neutral and all-situation\nexpression or a less formal 「早くよくなって下さいね」。", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T11:16:50.953", "id": "17661", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T11:16:50.953", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6680", "parent_id": "17651", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "区別 and 差別 both carry a mean of \"discrimination\" but have distinct meanings in\nJapanese.\n\n区別 is for putting things in different categories or domains, i.e. the ability\nto distinguish. For instance, the phrase [善悪]{ぜんあく}の区別 = to discriminate\nbetween good and evil.\n\n差別 often means discrimination in the pejorative, i.e. to place a [差]{さ}, here\nmeaning difference in level or quality between two things, people, countries,\netc. Thus, [性差別]{せいさべつ} and [人種差別]{じんしゅさべつ} are sexual and racial\ndiscrimination. There are a lot of other words in that category as well. But\nas Choko points out [差別化]{さべつか} means \"product differentiation,\" so the word\nis not exclusively used with this meaning.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T10:23:31.790", "id": "17660", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T18:38:02.103", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-04T18:38:02.103", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4091", "parent_id": "17654", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "腐{くさ}っていく literally means _to go rotten_. いく literally means _to go_ , but in\nsexual contexts, it means _to come_ , i.e. _to orgasm_. The meaning of the\nwhole phrase as a possible pun would depend much on the greater context in\nwhich it is used (which, at this time of writing, has not yet been supplied).", "comment_count": 7, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T23:38:10.413", "id": "17667", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T23:38:10.413", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5229", "parent_id": "17656", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 }, { "body": "In Japanese, people can metaphorically 腐る ( _lit._ go rotten) in several ways:\n\n * feel meaningless; waste time/energy; be depressed\n\n> 部屋の中で一人腐っている \n> spend time doing nothing, alone in my room\n>\n> ひどく叱られて腐ってしまう \n> be depressed after being rebuked badly\n\n * corrupt; commit bribing, peculation, etc.\n\n> 腐った政治家 \n> corrupt politician\n\n * become a fan of male-male romance manga/anime (yaoi)\n\n> 友人の影響で完全に腐ってしまった \n> I'm completely addicted to _yaoi_ thanks to my friends\n>\n> 腐った本 \n> a _yaoi_ book\n\nThe first two meanings are rather straightforward and don't require further\nexplanation, I guess. The third one is a slangy expression used among otaku\npeople. See the following articles:\n\nYaoi Fandom # Fujoshi in English Wikipedia \n<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi_fandom#Fujoshi>\n\n腐女子【ふじょし】 in Niconico daihyakka \n<http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E8%85%90%E5%A5%B3%E5%AD%90>", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-05T04:43:11.433", "id": "17668", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-05T08:19:06.477", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-05T08:19:06.477", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17656", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I'm not really sure where the question is, so I'll just explain what I see in\nthe letter.\n\nMoriyama is writing to Yamaguchi. So Yamaguchi is the 貴社.\n\nYamaguchi owed Ueda the 100万円 and didn't pay for over 6 months. Ueda went out\nof business. Moriyama is now the owner of the debt post bankruptcy. The いただく\nphrase is indicating that Moriyama should receive the money.\n\nThe letter is written by KAWAKAMI Tarou from the [総務]{そうむ} group at Moriyama\nstating the above fact (i.e. requesting payment).", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T08:24:20.943", "id": "17659", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T09:55:16.820", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-04T09:55:16.820", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4091", "parent_id": "17657", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "According to [「研究社 新和英中辞典」](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF)：\n\n> ‐では\n>\n> 1 〈…においては〉 in; at; to; as for; in the case of\n>\n> 2 〈…から判断すると〉 judging by [from]; from.\n>\n> 3 〈…に関しては〉\n>\n> 4 〈…であっては, …であったら〉\n>\n> 5 〈…ではないだろうか〉\n\n「全部そのデカイ腹に集中したのでは」 seems to be an instance of 5, i.e. an abbreviation of\n「ではないだろうか」, while 「夏中エアコンのきいた室内にいたのでは」an instance of 4.\n\nBy removing 「のでは」 you reduce a rhetorical question to a plain statement.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T12:41:38.290", "id": "17662", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T12:57:55.870", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "5346", "parent_id": "17658", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "* [ぬ indicates the negative](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/235/difference-between-negative-forms-%E3%81%9A-and-%E3%81%AC) (as in Classical Japanese) and ~ませぬ is in fact the precursor of the modern ~ません.\n\n * な is a variant of ね \n(see also [What nuance does \"ですな\"\nbring?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6806/what-nuance-\nbrings-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%AA) and [「ね」 vs 「な」 in 「そうだね」 /「そうね」/\n「そうですね」](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/13474/%E3%81%AD-\nvs-%E3%81%AA-\nin-%E3%81%9D%E3%81%86%E3%81%A0%E3%81%AD-%E3%81%9D%E3%81%86%E3%81%AD-%E3%81%9D%E3%81%86%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%AD))\n\nSince Manga often indicate the end of a sentence by a line (or column) break,\nrather than a period, I would bet that the sentence is\n\n> 小姓さんが見当たりませぬな \n> 是非お会いしたかったのですが。\n\nIn any case,\n\n> 小姓さんが見当たりませぬな = 小姓さんが見当たりませんね ( _modulo nuances_ )", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T15:03:18.360", "id": "17664", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T15:03:18.360", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:44.740", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1628", "parent_id": "17663", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "It's kind of a crude term, so my answer here will be kind of crude, haha. I\nhope that's okay.\n\nEver heard a guy say, after seeing something like a video of somebody climbing\na tall tower or something, that they felt fear? And that they felt it in their\ntesticles? \n玉ヒュン basically means that.\n\n玉【たま】 here is a kanji-fied shortening of キンタマ, a colloquialism for 睾丸【こうがん】\n(testicles). ヒュン is a sort of sound effect -- like something whizzing past\nyou. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how the ヒュン comes into effect here,\nbut... it makes for something that's kind of fun to say, haha.\n\nBasically what she's saying here is \"[I got so scared that] I felt it in my\nballs, and I'm a woman!\"", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-04T16:17:44.617", "id": "17666", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-04T16:17:44.617", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4923", "parent_id": "17665", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "I don't think those meanings sound very different, but if you were to give\nsome examples we would be better able to address your question.\n\n～うちに can be used in a number of (grammatical) situations, and in almost all of\nthose it can be understood in English1 as \"while\".\n\n> 考えているうちに分からなくなった。 \n> _Kangaete iru uchi ni wakaranaku natta._ \n> (While thinking about it, I got lost.)\n\nHowever, **when ～うちに follows a negative** it can be understood in English as\n\"before\".\n\n> 雨が降らないうちにテニスをしてきます。 \n> _Ame ga furanai uchi ni tenisu o shite kimasu._ \n> (I'll go and play tennis (and come back) before it rains.)\n\nAdditionally, when ～うちに is preceded by something for which the beginning and\nending is certain, ～間【あいだ】に can be substituted.\n\n> 子供が学校に行っているうちに／間に本を読みます。 \n> _Kodomo ga gakkou ni itte iru uchi ni / aida ni hon o yomimasu._ \n> (I read books while my child is away at school.)\n\nI hope this answers your question. If not, I am more than willing to expand\nit.\n\n* * *\n\nNotes: \n1 Though as a matter of personal opinion, I don't believe this is the best way\nto understand things in a foreign language.\n\n* * *\n\nReferences: \nMakino, Seiichi and Tsutsui, Michio. \"A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar\".\nJapan Times, 1994.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-05T06:36:37.593", "id": "17673", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-05T06:36:37.593", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "384", "parent_id": "17671", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "For example,\n\n> Do x whilst y \n> [明]{あか}るい **うちに** (≒明るい[間]{あいだ}に)[帰]{かえ}ってきなさい。(Come back while it's\n> bright) \n> [温]{あたた}かい **うちに** (≒温かい間に)食べなさい。(Eat while it's warm) \n> 子どもが[寝]{ね}ている **うちに** (≒寝ている間に)[洗濯]{せんたく}します。(I do the laundry while the\n> child is sleeping)\n\ncan be rephrased:\n\n> Do x before ys situation changes \n> [暗]{くら}くなら **ないうちに** (≒暗くなる[前]{まえ}に)帰ってきなさい。(Come back before it gets dark) \n> [冷]{さ}め **ないうちに** (≒冷める前に)食べなさい。(Eat before it gets cold) \n> 子どもが[起]{お}き **ないうちに** (≒起きる前に)洗濯します。(I do the laundry before the child\n> wakes up)\n\n(Use a negative form for the latter format.)", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-05T07:15:28.127", "id": "17674", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-05T07:33:28.090", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-05T07:33:28.090", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17671", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "By adding 「であろう」, the narrator turned the statement before it, i.e.\n「ほんの一、二分のやりとりであった」, into a supposition, which sounds softer:\n\n> (I think / feel / Probably) the exchange lasted for just one minute or two(,\n> well, it might in fact be longer than that). (Although the duration was\n> short, ~~it is enough to show~~ ) ~~clearly~~ [1]...\n\n[1]: Sorry that I confused 「さわやか」 with 「あざやか」, credit to Tim", "comment_count": 17, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-05T08:24:09.523", "id": "17676", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-05T09:33:24.940", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-05T09:33:24.940", "last_editor_user_id": "5346", "owner_user_id": "5346", "parent_id": "17672", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "It should be clear from a direct translation of the whole sentence:\n\n> ほんの一、ニ分のやりとりであったであろうが、いかに屈託のない若い人たちの闊達さがさわやかであった。 \n> The exchange was probably _no more than_ * one or two minutes but the\n> generosity of _those_ ** carefree young people was so refreshing.\n\n_Notes_ \n*ほんの really means \"just\" but \"no more than\" feels more natural so I've taken a little literary license. \n\n** We don't really have a word like その to represent \"those\" and you have not\ngiven any more context so I've added it to make the sentence more complete as\na stand alone statement.\n\nであった is past/perfect copula similar to だった or でした equivalent to \"was\"\n\nであろう is similar to だろう & でしょう and equivalent to \"probably\".\n\n_Comment_ : The grammar is fairly straight forward but this sentence contains\nsome quite difficult words. Did you read and understand the rest of the\nsentence before asking the question?", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-05T08:59:58.940", "id": "17677", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-05T13:36:08.553", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-05T13:36:08.553", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1556", "parent_id": "17672", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "It looks like 印象 to me.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-06T17:21:11.100", "id": "17680", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-06T17:21:11.100", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17679", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "You are correct, linking two verb in their 連体形 (\"dictionary\") form is unusual\nand unexpected.\n\nBoth of the dictionaries 日本国語大辞典 and 広辞苑 suggest the following explanation:\n\n> 「観智院本名義抄」や「色葉字類抄」で「翔」を「ふるまふ」と読んでいることから「羽を存分に振って自由舞う」という「振るい舞う」が原義かとおもわれる。\n\nThat is, it is a shortening of the original form _huruimau_ , in the sense of\na bird flapping its wings and taking flight, fluttering about in the skies (=\n\"dancing\", the Japanese _mau_ is used in this sense). _hurui_ is the 連用形\n(\"masu-stem\") of the verb _huruu_ , and this explanation would render the\ncompound regular.\n\nHowever, both dictionaries imply that this is only a hypothesis, and a\ndictionaries main purpose is not to list etymological research. It is just as\nwell that the kanji are simple _ateji_ and that _hurumau_ derives from some\ndifferent word(s), or that it is simply irregular. The earliest usage a quick\ndictionary lookup yields is from about 800 years ago, in the 古今著聞集.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-12-07T08:43:47.140", "id": "19797", "last_activity_date": "2014-12-07T08:43:47.140", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3275", "parent_id": "17682", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I think you're just missing what the source is referring to.\n\nThe part where it says\n\n> It is also used to describe a habitual action and a condition.\n\nIs referring to this:\n\n> (2) The present progressive: the ~ te form iru or imasu (formal)\n\nSo it's not referring to the て form but the ている/ています construction.\n\nSo for example, 私はひまなとき本を読んでいます。\n\nNote also that this doesn't mean that ている is used _exclusively_ to describe a\nhabit. Just that it can be.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T02:08:44.627", "id": "17694", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T02:08:44.627", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "17683", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "It might be better to think of 曇り as \"the state of having cloudiness.\"\n\nCheck out the examples here:\n[Examples](http://kotobank.jp/jeword/%E6%9B%87%E3%82%8A?dic=pje3&oid=SPJE01214500)\n\nFor example:\n\n曇りのはいった水晶 cloudy crystal\n\nThis could be translated as \"a crystal that possesses the state of\ncloudiness.\"\n\nA second example:\n\n曇りのない心の持ち主 a person with 「a clear conscience [a serene mind]\n\nThis could be translated as \"the possessor of a heart/mind that has no\ncloudiness.\"", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-06T23:02:01.913", "id": "17686", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-06T23:02:01.913", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6754", "parent_id": "17684", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "Some English adjectives have no corresponding Japanese i-adjective or na-\nadjective, and you have to use noun- or verb-based expressions in Japanese.\n\nExamples I can think of are:\n\n * green, orange, pink, gray, etc. ([Colors in Japanese](http://www.japaneseprofessor.com/lessons/beginning/colors-in-japanese/). Despite the article, 茶色い is also a perfect i-adjective just like 黄色い) \n\n> それは緑色だ。ピンク色の紙。灰色の猫。 \n> (Incorrect: ピンク色な紙。灰色い猫。)\n\n * windy, sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.\n\n> 今日は雨だ。雨の日。昨日は曇りだった。曇りの日。明日は風が強い。風が強い日。\n\n * [sick](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/16299/)\n\n> 彼は病気だ。病気の人。病気になる。\n\n * different\n\n> それはAとは違う。Aと違う意味。それはBとは異なる。Bとは異なった意味。\n\nA few young people use 違くて, 違くって, 違かった, etc., but these are broken and you\nshould avoid them.\n\n * wrong\n\n> それは違う。それは誤っている。それは間違いだ。間違った文章。 (Incorrect: それは違い。)\n\n * dead\n\n> 彼は死んでいる。すでに死んだ人。彼は5年前に死んだ。\n\n * angry\n\n> 彼は怒っている。怒った顔をする。", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T00:12:24.930", "id": "17691", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T07:01:42.573", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:44.740", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17684", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Kumokute would be if there was a \"Kumoi\" i-adjective.\n\nIn this case くもり comes from the verb くもる, so in this case could use くもって which\nis maybe what you were expecting:\n\n今日は曇って、寒かったです。", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T06:34:13.173", "id": "17695", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T06:34:13.173", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6755", "parent_id": "17684", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "This is a famous song 箱根八里【はこねはちり】 by Rentaro Taki. ([English\ntranslation](http://goo.gl/hcYYTB))\n\n<http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AE%B1%E6%A0%B9%E5%85%AB%E9%87%8C>\n\nThis song was written before 現代仮名遣い was introduced, and its original lyrics\nare full of kanjis which even native Japanese (including myself) can't read\nany more.\n\nIt seems your umbrella has simplified some of the kanjis, used hiragana, and\neven introduced some easy kanjis, but basically this Wikipedia article will\nhelp you understand.\n\n * B: 物ならず\n * F: 支う (not 友ら)\n * U: 往時の[もののふ](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/219956/m0u/)\n\nAnd the bottommost character in the package is \"険\" in modern Japanese, and\nmeans \"steep (mountain)\".\n\n<http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/69030/m0u/%E5%B6%AE/>\n\nThis kanji is not exactly 「険」 nor 「嶮」, but such mixture can happen. (I really\ndon't know whether this kanji is correct or wrong.)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T00:34:00.840", "id": "17692", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T00:53:39.607", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-07T00:53:39.607", "last_editor_user_id": "5010", "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17687", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Here's what I see:\n\n（A）箱根の山は → OK \n（B）天下の岐 → 天下の **** \n（C）・谷間ヲ・ならず → [函谷]{かん・こく} **[関]{かん}も** ？ならず \n（D）万丈の山干・の谷 → 万丈の山干 **(looks like ⺅＋刃)** の谷 \n（E）前に・びえ → 前に **そ** びえ \n（F）雲りえに友ら → しりえに友？ ？？？ \n（G）雲は山・めぐり → 雲は山 **を** めぐり \n（H）霧は谷そとざす → OK \n（I）昼なそ暗さ → 昼な **を** 暗 **き** \n（J）杉の並木 → OK \n（K）着物の小径は → **[羊腸]{よう・ちょう}** の小径は \n（L）莟・らか → 莟 **[滑]{な}** らか \n（M）一天関に当るや → 一 **夫** 関に当るや \n（N）万天ヲ・くな・ → 万 **夫も開** くな **し** \n（O）天下に・する → 天下に **[旅]{たび}** する \n（P）剛毅のヲののふ → 剛毅の **も** ののふ \n（Q）大刀・に足・がけ → 大刀 **(looks like 月＋零)** に足 **？** がけ \n（R）・・の岩根 → **[八里]{はち・り？？？}** の岩根 \n（S）踏みならす → OK \n（T）斯くこそありしか → OK \n（U）往時のヲののふ → 往時の **も** ののふ", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T00:46:11.983", "id": "17693", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T00:46:11.983", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "17687", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "The ～え is the casual form of elongating イ-adjectives into ～え. So in this case\nit is really `会いたい` getting changed into `会いてえ`. There may be another topic\nhere about this form, but I can't find it.\n\nThe ～ん is just the abbreviated ～の nominalizer. The same as ～んです.", "comment_count": 7, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-06T23:38:28.337", "id": "17689", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T00:52:47.013", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-07T00:52:47.013", "last_editor_user_id": "78", "owner_user_id": "78", "parent_id": "17688", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "Both strategies have their place, depending on _which_ set of readings you're\nstudying at a given time.\n\n# 音読み\n\nWhen you're studying 音読み【おんよみ】(the Chinese-derived readings), it's best to\nlearn the sound first, and then learn a couple of words that use it with each\nreading so that you can get a sense of when it's used.\n\nTo use your 人 example, learn that it's pronounced じん, then find words that use\nじん—things like 日本人【にほんじん】 and 人類【じんるい】. Then move on to the next reading (にん)\nand do the same: 人間【にんげん】、上人【じょうにん】, etc. The words don't have to be exotic;\nas a matter of fact, picking ones that you commonly use is ideal when\npossible.\n\nThe great thing about this strategy is that it enables you to make educated\nguesses at new words if you haven't seen them before, but know the character's\nmeanings and probable readings. You won't always get it right on the first\ntry, but the skill refines itself over time and practice.\n\n# 訓読み\n\nOne of the biggest mistakes I made with 訓読み【くんよみ】(native Japanese readings)\nwas to start out learning many of them as just readings, devoid of distinct\nmeaning. Let's take an example:\n\n> 見：み・る、み・える、み・せる\n\nThe character 見 has a collection of general meanings regarding vision (\"look\",\n\"see\", etc.). But if all you know about it is that it has to do with seeing\nand you have 3 possible verbs to use, how do you tell which one?\n\nIn cases like this, it's best to suck it up and put in a bit of extra effort\nto learn the actual meanings of the words associated with the readings. In\nthis case:\n\n * 見る【みる】: to see\n * 見える【みえる】: to be seen; to appear\n * 見せる【みせる】: to show\n\nAs you can see (forgive the pun), the general meaning of \"see\" isn't\ncompletely off the mark, but the choice of which verb to use depends on which\ndimension of that meaning you're trying to convey.\n\nAnother thing to be aware of is that sometimes some 訓読み are more commonly used\nin conjunction with something else, instead of as standalone words. Moving\nback to your 人 example, we have the following:\n\n> 人：ひと、り、と\n\nIn this case, 人【ひと】 can stand on its own, meaning \"person\". The other two mean\n\"person\" as well, but in slightly different contexts:\n\n * り is used as a counter for people when using Japanese numbers (ie. 一人【ひとり】、二人【ふたり】. These usually switch over to 人【にん】 appended to Chinese numbers starting with 3: 三人【さんにん】、十人【じゅうにん】, etc.)\n * と is used in some words that combine two 訓読み readings to refer to \"one who does something\". For example, 狩人【かりうど】 combines the verb 狩る【かる】 (\"to hunt\") and と (slurred into ど) to create \"hunter\". It also appears at the end of some names (e.g. 隼人【はやと】).\n\n# Prioritization\n\nJust because a reading is listed under a kanji doesn't _necessarily_ mean\nyou're going to find many examples of it out in the wild, especially as a\nforeigner. 生 famously has about 20 readings, but many of them (such as\nな・す、む・す、and お・う) really don't come up often, while others overlap with\ncontextually more specific characters (活ける【いける】、産む【うむ】). Likewise, KANJIDIC\n(which is the source of most free online kanji dictionaries) has occasional\nerrors or archaic/hard-to-find readings (e.g. it lists 二び【ふたたび】, which is a\nvalid reading, but rather\n[obscure](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sci.lang.japan/S_ssBOZ7d-4/neEC9Ffp8YsJ)).\n\nIn short, if you're having trouble finding examples of a reading in use, don't\nstress over it; move on to the next one on the list or ask a native speaker to\nhelp provide you with an example.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T08:18:54.263", "id": "17698", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T13:13:07.750", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-07T13:13:07.750", "last_editor_user_id": "4914", "owner_user_id": "4914", "parent_id": "17696", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Most of the time, kanji are used to write **words** or **parts of words**\n--prefixes, suffixes, and so on. To know which reading is appropriate, you\nhave to know the relevant Japanese words or parts of words.\n\nFor example, look at the following:\n\n> にほん **じん** _'Japanese person/people'_ \n> アメリカ **じん** _'American(s)'_ \n> がいこく **じん** _'foreigner(s)'_\n\nHere, we have a suffix じん meaning \"person\". As you can see, it attaches to\nnouns that denote places people are from. That's not the only way じん can be\nused, but it's a pattern you need to learn. And once you know this pattern,\nyou can read the following:\n\n> 日本 **人** にほん **じん** (not *にほん **にん** ) \n> アメリカ **人** アメリカ **じん** (not *アメリカ **にん** ) \n> 外国 **人** がいこく **じん** (not *がいこく **にん** )\n\nThere are two ways you can learn this sort of pattern:\n\n * **Explicitly** : You can be taught that じん is used this way, and that it's written 人 in kanji.\n * **Implicitly** : You can learn words like the above and read new words _by analogy_ :\n\n> Hmm, what's this word? It says フランス **人** , but I haven't learned that word\n> yet, so how do I know which reading to use? Well, I know the words 日本 **人**\n> and アメリカ **人** , and it's **じん** in both of those. _I bet this word is_ フランス\n> **じん**!\n\nYou'll probably do a combination of both as you learn. When you do, you'll be\nlearning facts about the Japanese language--not just about kanji or readings,\nbut about how words and parts of words fit together and what they mean when\nthey do.\n\nThere are certain overarching patterns you'll notice pretty early on in your\nstudies, and you can fall back on these patterns when you aren't sure:\n\n * **_Kun_** readings tend to go with other **_kun_** readings.\n * **_On_** readings tend to go with other **_on_** readings.\n * Foreign words tend to go with **_on_** readings.\n\nThese rules are far from absolute! Although most compounds are _kun-kun_ or\n_on-on_ , mixed compounds (called\n[重箱読み](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%8D%E7%AE%B1%E8%AA%AD%E3%81%BF) and\n[湯桶読み](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B9%AF%E6%A1%B6%E8%AA%AD%E3%81%BF)) are\nstill relatively common--much like how in English, we have hybrids like\n_television_ (Greek-Latin) and _biathlon_ (Latin-Greek).\n\nAnd there are overriding factors:\n\n * Some words or parts of words are **productive** , meaning they form new words or compounds readily. Our example of じん above is very productive; you can invent a place name and combine it with that name, if you like. Others are less productive, or not productive at all. For example, 一人 is ひとり, but り only appears in a very small set of words that you'll have to memorize. You can't form new words with it yourself.\n\n * Occasionally words are **suppletive** , meaning they take the place of an expected form. Although にん as a counter for people is very productive, the suppletive words ひとり and ふたり generally take the place of the expected forms いちにん and ににん. You have to memorize these words as exceptions. \n\n * Sometimes different readings have **different meanings**. For example, 塞 has two _on_ readings, そく and さい. The former is used when it means ふさぐ _'obstruct'_ , and the latter when it means とりで _'fortress'_.\n\nSo you can't simply memorize a set of readings for each kanji, I'm afraid.\nYou'll have to learn Japanese words and parts of words, to learn how those are\nwritten, and to make educated guesses based on what you've learned so far when\nyour knowledge falls short.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T16:42:56.073", "id": "17705", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T16:53:56.183", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-07T16:53:56.183", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17696", "post_type": "answer", "score": 16 } ]

[ { "body": "\"で\" in どこでも is not the particle \"で\" meaning \"at\" or \"in\". Here, \"でも\" is\nsomething like English \"-ever\" or \"any-\" in whatever, anywhere, etc.\n\n * だれでも whoever\n * だれにでも勝てる I can defeat anyone. (～に勝つ = defeat ～)\n * いつでも whenever\n * いつまででも (lit. _until whenever_ ) forever\n * なんでも whatever\n * どこでも (in/at) wherever\n * どこにでも行く go (to) wherever\n * どこへでも行く go (to) wherever\n * どこまででも行く go (to) wherever\n * どこからでもやって来る come from anywhere\n * AとBのどちらでも使える Both A and B are usable.\n\nThis で is dropped in negative sentences:\n\n * ここにはなにもない There is nothing here. (*なんでも is incorrect)\n * だれもいない There is nobody. (*だれでも is incorrect)\n * だれにも勝てない I can defeat no one. (*だれにでも is incorrect)\n * いつも17時には帰れない I can never leave my office at 17. (*いつでも is incorrect)\n * いつまでも子供のままではいられない You can't stay a kid forever. (*いつまででも is incorrect)\n * どこからも電話がかかってこない I get phone calls from nobody. (*どこからでも is incorrect)\n * AとBのどちらも使えない Both A and B are unusable. (* どちらでも is incorrect)\n\nAccording to this rule, \"どこでも銭湯があります\", \"どこにでも銭湯があります\", and \"どこにも銭湯がありません\" are\nall correct, while \"どこにでも銭湯がありません\" is incorrect.\n\nThere are always exceptions. The following sentences are correct, because it's\nsemantically positive:\n\n * いつでも構わない Any time is fine.\n * どこでも問題ない Anywhere is fine.\n\nCan we drop で in positive sentences? It depends.\n\n * *だれも出来る is incorrect (だれでも出来る is OK)\n * *なにも食べる is incorrect (なんでも食べる is OK)\n * いつも遊んでいる (いつでも is also OK)\n * どこも休日は混雑している (どこでも is also OK)\n * 一緒にどこまでも行こう (どこまででも is also OK)\n\nAs for 「どこにでも」, I feel it's acceptable to drop で in positive sentences.\n\nIn conclusion, 「昔はどこにも銭湯があった」「昔はどこにでも銭湯があった」「昔はどこでも銭湯があった」 are all OK as long\nas they're positive sentences. I think there is no considerable nuances\nbetween the three.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T11:01:55.023", "id": "17700", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T11:01:55.023", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "5010", "parent_id": "17697", "post_type": "answer", "score": 15 } ]

[ { "body": "It is implied. If you want to follow up this sentence with a different\nsentence you'd need to mark the new one with は. (e.g. リナさんはどこにいたの？）\n\nAnd like virmaior said, the mix of casual speech with polite speech is\ndefinitely odd.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-07T13:44:39.007", "id": "17702", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-07T13:44:39.007", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1808", "parent_id": "17699", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "I think you can say it like this:\n\n> おはようございます！ピクニックでリナさんを探していたんですが、どこ **に** も*見え**ませんでしたね。(polite)\n\n*どこも→どこ **に** も \n**The 見える is the honorific form of いる(居る), and its subject (=リナさん) is implied.\nTo avoid the confusing with 「(私がリナさんを)見えませんでした」(見える = potential form of 見る),\nyou can rephrase it as 「どこにもいらっしゃらなかったですね。」, using いらっしゃる which is another\nhonorific form of いる. \n\nOr:\n\n> おはよう！ピクニックでリナさんを探していたんだけど、どこ **に** もいなかったね。(casual)\n\n* * *\n\nIf you want to say \"I couldn't find you\" more literally using \"I\" as the\nsubject, you can say it this way:\n\n> おはようございます！ピクニックでリナさんを探していたんですが、見つけられませんでした(よ)。(polite) \n> or \n> おはよう！ピクニックでリナさんを探していたんだけど、見つけられなかったよ。/ 見つからなかったよ。(casual)", "comment_count": 7, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-08T00:13:41.273", "id": "17707", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-10T23:40:49.980", "last_edit_date": "2014-07-10T23:40:49.980", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "17699", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "「る」に規則はない。しかし、最近は「る」をつけたりして、動詞のようにも使っている。外来語の場合が多い。 \n例え1）トラブル(TROUBLE)という言葉は最後が「る」で、まるで動詞のように聞こえるので、「最近、彼女ととらぶっているよ」とかも使っている。 \n例え2）一方、最後に「る」をつける場合は、メモ(MEMO)→「今、それメモってるの？」", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2016-01-12T01:40:33.013", "id": "30369", "last_activity_date": "2016-01-12T05:16:58.257", "last_edit_date": "2016-01-12T05:16:58.257", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "12189", "parent_id": "17701", "post_type": "answer", "score": -4 }, { "body": "I’m not a grammarian, and I cannot explain well how る in\n語る、喋る、投げる、変える、帰る、照る、降る functions as the flexional form of the verb. But る of\n昼（ひる）and 夜（よる）is different matter from, and irrelevant to the 語尾変化 - flexion\nof the tail of Japanese verbs.\n\n日 and 昼 are different words though their meanings look similar in English (day\nand daytime, or noon), while 夜 (yo) and 夜 (yoru) are same in the meaning.\n\nWhat I’m saying is I don’t find any specific meaning and reason as their own\nin る in 昼 and 夜 (yoru) in terms of etymology. Perhaps it’ll be just a\ncoincidence.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2016-01-12T03:36:24.990", "id": "30372", "last_activity_date": "2016-01-12T03:42:40.227", "last_edit_date": "2016-01-12T03:42:40.227", "last_editor_user_id": "12056", "owner_user_id": "12056", "parent_id": "17701", "post_type": "answer", "score": -2 }, { "body": "I think that no one can give you a clear answer to the question at this time,\nbecause all of the words, ひ, ひる, よ, and よる have existed for a very very long\ntime. It's just too difficult for present people to find out the origin of the\nfour words.\n\nAs far as I know, the words ひる, よ and よる were already common words for daily\nuse in the Heian period (794 - 1185). I think I can say so because\n[emakimono](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emakimono) (絵巻物) written in the\nHeian period contain those words, and they are used in writings which describe\ntheir daily life or something not special. For example, all of the three words\nare used in [Genji Monogatari\nEmaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genji_Monogatari_Emaki)(源氏物語絵巻). And\nother emakimono, such as Shigisan Engi Emaki\n([信貴山縁起絵巻](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BF%A1%E8%B2%B4%E5%B1%B1%E7%B8%81%E8%B5%B7))\netc, contain some of them. The words were used as a word or a part of a\ncompound word such as ひるつかた, みじかよ etc. (Those words which I saw were written\nin hiragana in the emakimono).\n\nThe word ひ meaning \"daytime\" (not the word ひ meaning sun, date, time or\nweather here) seems to be used in [The Tale of the\nHeike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_Heike) (平家物語) and\n[Kojiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kojiki) (古事記). (I've not seen the\nreliable photos of them, so I don't know what character is actually used for\nthe word in them.)\n\nAll of the words ひ, ひる, よ and よる are kunyomi (訓読み). And they all were born in\nthe old enough time we can't (or almost can't) trace the origins now. Thus, it\nis very difficult to find out which word was born first and their grammatical\ncompositions.\n\nThere is another Japanese word, Kami (神), which also already existed and was\nused by Japanese people in the 8th century and is commonly used now. Kami is\nactually very different from God, but Kami is generally translated as God in\nEnglish. Anyway, Kami has been one of very important words for many Japanese\npeople, maybe somewhat like the word God in English. So, not a few people have\nseriously and diligently researched the origin of the word Kami for a very\nlong time. However, no one has succeeded in finding the perfect answer so far.\nA convincing view on it still doesn't exist. So, we don't know the origin of\nthe Japanese word Kami etymologically. I guess that finding the origin of the\nる in ひる or よる is more difficult than finding the origin of the word Kami,\nbecause they are more ordinary words.\n\nAbout which word is first, a Japanese linguist, Susumu Ōno (大野晋), wrote an\ninteresting thing in a book called 『日本人の神』.\n\n>\n> カミ（神）という言葉は万葉仮名では[伽未]{か・み}・[柯微]{か・み}・[可尾]{か・み}・[可味]{か・み}などと書く。ところが熟語になると形が変わって、「カム」となっている。\n>\n> [歌牟鵝可梨]{か・む・が・か・り}（神がかり） （神代紀上）\n>\n> [伽牟伽筮能]{か・む・か・ぜ・の}（神風の ＝ 伊勢にかかる[枕詞]{まくら・ことば}） （書記歌謡八）\n>\n> このように、カミ（神）のミはカミだけの独立語では mï 。カミを含む熟語では mu である。\n>\n> **こういう場合、言語学的には一般に熟語の方が古形である**\n> 。例えば、こがくれ（木隠れ）、こかげ（木陰）、こがらし（木枯らし）、こだち（木立）、このは（木の葉）を、独立形のキ（木）と比較すると、キの方が新形である。\n\nI don't know if this is true or not, but, according to his this knowledge, it\nmight be possible that ひる was an older word than ひ and よる was an older word\nthan よ if the words ひる and よる were composed of multiple words. Of course, it\ncan't be certain (at least for now), though.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2016-01-15T03:27:55.080", "id": "30430", "last_activity_date": "2016-01-18T10:21:55.840", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "10484", "parent_id": "17701", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]