20
votes
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How to translate ‘To be or not to be, that is the question’
This sentence is indeed regarded as one of the most difficult translation challenges. This sentence has been translated variously by many translators. Kawai Shunichiro, one of the translators of ...
- 307k
10
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What is なく doing in this sentence?
The なく is the 連用形 of ない used in the sense of:
10 名詞に付いて、否定の意を含む形容詞をつくる。「こころ―・い」「違い―・い」「面目 (めんぼく) ―・い」 (デジタル大辞泉)
ない can be attached to a noun, forming an i-adjective with a negative meaning ("...
- 65.3k
7
votes
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Meaning of 言うではありませんか
「～ではありませんか。」 in narrative is a kind of rhetorical device for a dramatic effect. It's often used in children's stories, folk tales etc. (昔話, 童話 etc.) to present an unexpected event or express a ...
- 65.3k
7
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How do Japanese make language sound old (e. g. in historical dramas)?
The words and phrases vary by time, by occasion, and even by class.
Just top of the mind, even the simplest words like “I” and “you” can be expressed in dozens of different ways in old-style Japanese, ...
- 9,505
7
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In Akutagawa's writing, would 誰 have been pronounced たれ or だれ?
日本国語大辞典 says:
近世「だれ」と変化したが、「随筆・松屋筆記‐五五・三」「徒然慰草‐一・二二段」に「今云あの人たちのもの申さるることばをきくに或は『たれ』といふことを『た』の字をにごり〈略〉かやうのかたこといくらといふかずをしらず丸か耳にさへをかしく伝ればこれをいにしへの人たちにきかせ奉らばいかばかりかなしくおぼしめされん」とあり、近世後期からの現象と思われる。現代では、「だれ」...
- 50.7k
6
votes
Which is correct for the bushido code, 誠 or 真?
You may or may not know that the so-called "Bushido code" was popularized (and somewhat canonized) by Inazo Nitobé [sic] in Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1900) and first published in English. One could ...
- 48k
6
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Why is the Japanese title of Dante's "Divine Comedy" 『神曲』?
WIkipediaによれば元来のcomedyは以下のようなものであり、単に形式的なもののようです。
ただしコメディ（Comedy）の西洋における元義は、悲劇（英: Tragedy ）の対照を成す意味での演劇である（例えばギリシア悲劇に対するギリシア喜劇）。従って本来は必ずしも笑えるものだけを意味するとは限らない。 例えば、ダンテの『神曲』も原題は「羅: La Divina Commedia 」...
- 307k
6
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Is the main character's wife cheating on him in these sentences in Osamu Dazai's 「人間失格」
At the point of 二匹の動物がいました, no one can tell what's happening with confidence, but there are enough hints in the following paragraphs. Yoshiko was not cheating, but she was being raped by the 無学な小男の商人 ...
- 307k
6
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What is the function of 「や」 in this sentence?
The や indicates 詠嘆・感動 (exclamation/admiration). It's categorized as a 間投助詞 (interjectory particle) in デジタル大辞泉:
や 四 間助
３ 詠嘆・感動の意を表す。
「いで、あな幼なや」〈源・若紫〉
「夏草やつはものどもが夢の跡／芭蕉」〈奥の細道〉
And 明鏡国語辞典 categorizes ...
- 65.3k
6
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Is there a term for the rhetorical rephrasing of e.g. "良子はエビ天にかぶりつく。" into "エビ天にかぶりつく良子。”?
山田孝雄, a Japanese linguist, called this type of phrase/sentence 喚体句. This is used to make a sentence sound dramatic and vivid. It is especially common in poetry (haiku, lyrics, ...), but this pattern ...
- 307k
5
votes
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Trouble with a small excerpt from Tanizaki's Himitsu
［甘い匂いのひやひやとした露が、毛穴へ染み入る］皮膚のよろこびは格別であった。
甘い匂いのひやひやとした露が、毛穴へ染み入る is a relative clause modifying 皮膚.
The subject of 染み入る is 甘い匂いのひやひやとした露.
The sentence roughly means something like.....
"The ...
- 65.3k
5
votes
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How to understand 態度を片付け
この「片づける」は "to settle down", "to sort out" のような意味で使われています。現代文でも「問題を片づける」「トラブルを片づける」などと言うことができます。ただし、現代文で「態度を片づける」ということはまれだと思います。私なら「態度を決める」「態度について片をつける」などと言うと思います。
この文の場合は、「～てもらいたい」と「～てほしい」はほとんど同じです。...
- 307k
5
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Meaning of すきっとした
すきっと is actually a dictionary word — for example 大辞林 has
すきっと
（副）スル
すっきりしたさま。さっぱりしたさま。 「頭が－する」 「 －した気分になる」
It's an adverb for する (sometimes also called a to-adverb) which describes something being ...
- 48k
5
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I have a question about japanese literature
May you tell me if this type of poem sounds beautiful for Japanese people or not? And is it good to keep writing poems in this type or it sounds weird and not good?
Those questions are opinion-based, ...
- 50.7k
5
votes
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Trouble understanding small bits of poetry in a Japanese novel
Those tanka are all overly "artistic", almost a showcase of unexpected words or combinations that make each poem hard to follow in meaning. (Each poem is divided in lines for easier ...
- 50.7k
5
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What is the function of 「や」 in this sentence?
This や is a literary particle used to add emotion or exclamation. It's common in in haiku and waka. It works like O as in "O the ancient pond", or ... as in "The ancient pond...". ...
- 307k
5
votes
Word Order: topic plug
is this a normal (speech) word order or is it a stylistic inversion used for a literary effect.
Yes, this is a normal order and not a stylistic inversion.
This is just as normal:
彼女は恋愛と結婚は別のものと考えていた。
...
- 1,550
5
votes
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How inteligible is Japanese used in Buddhist texts?
These are the Sino-Japanese readings of Chinese characters, so the grammar isn't even that of Japanese, but of Chinese. This can be seen by the fact that the verb (行, 度) precedes the object (深般若波羅蜜多, ...
- 6,688
5
votes
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Help with understanding this "quote": 「現身に飢獣を降ろす 月下の能力者」
The kanji 身 refers to one's body/flesh (as opposed to soul, mind, spirit, etc). 現身 also refers to one's body, but with an added nuance of "(bound to) this world".
降ろす is "to bring down&...
- 307k
4
votes
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Dialogue and politeness level in 風の又三郎
1) I'm not good at 東北弁 at all, but like any other dialects in Japan, 東北弁 is rather quickly disappearing. I believe only old people in rural areas of Tohoku region can speak fluent 東北弁 today. Even in ...
- 307k
4
votes
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What`s the meaning of のを and だと in this text?
This is a deeply-nested sentence, but the "outer" structure is:
［この羽織は、(long relative clause here) ものだ］と、母の手紙に長い説明がある。
In Mom's letter, there is a long explanation that says "This haori is (such-...
- 307k
4
votes
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『坊っちゃん』の「親譲り」と「損」の理解のし方
「そのもの」というのは親から譲り受けた性格や財産など、受け継がれたもの自体を指します。この場合、「無鉄砲」がこれに当たります。
「損をする」というのは、意味合いで言えば英語の Lose、Lose out などに似た言葉です。大辞林の解説によると
そん【損】：
利益を失うこと。益のないこと。不利であること。また、そのさま。 ⇔ 得 ・ 益 「千円の－をする」 「口べたで－をしている」 「 ...
- 1,849
4
votes
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What does 「夢心地に呻き苦しんだ」mean?
The meaning of that sentence goes something like this:
Lights out, your mother, wrapped in something white and in a trance, let out moans of pain in the dimness.
「夢心地」is thus defined in goo 辞書:
...
- 11.4k
4
votes
Which noun is described by 大きな and 滑か in 「真珠貝は大きな滑かな縁の鋭い貝であった」
I would interpret it as...
「真珠貝は［大きな］［滑らかな］［縁の鋭い］貝であった。」
The shell was big and smooth and sharp-edged.
... where 大きな, 滑らかな and 縁の鋭い modify 貝, 縁の鋭い being one chunk.
So I would read (朗読/音読) it like ...
- 65.3k
4
votes
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Meaning of いいように and はからう in a certain context
はからう means to see to it. It is often used with adverbs, without mentioning explicitly what is done (in this sense, it is close to to manage).
From the linked entry:
なんとか計らいましょう
I'll see to it.／I'll ...
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3
votes
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Meaning of 折らで in a haiku
In classical Japanese, で after an irrealis-form (未然形) means ないで in modern Japanese. So 折らで means 折らないで or "without snapping off".
で
接続助詞
《接続》活用語の未然形に付く。〔打消の接続〕…ないで。…ずに。
This で is ...
- 307k
3
votes
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「って云って下さい」に関する質問
「彼女」は津田の妻「お延」です。
この「って云って下さい」は、「と伝えてください。」という意味です。
辞書には、「云う」の意味は、「人のいったことや伝聞したことなどを引いて・・・・という。」と書いてありました。
- 24.1k
3
votes
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他三篇 in a book title
According to some webpages, 石さまざま is made from 6 short stories based on stones. 水晶 is the representative of them. 他三篇 means "and 3 another stories".
So, in this book, there are 4 short stories from ...
- 627
3
votes
Accepted
The wind sound "どう" in 風の又三郎
Like ごう, which is also sometimes used for strong winds, I think どう may represent the lower frequency sounds caused by strong winds.
The higher frequency sounds would be びゅうびゅう or ひゅうひゅう etc.
- 48k
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