Unanswered Questions
452 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
13
votes
1answer
708 views
How has Japanese kanji and kana usage changed since 1945?
How has the percentage of writing using each script changed since 1945? With script reform, increasing influx of loanwords, and stylistic choices, several factors affect how much certain parts of the ...
12
votes
0answers
896 views
Iterative / repetitive る evolving from classical 連体形【れんたいけい】
This is somewhat related to the discussion of classical auxiliary verb ふ, mentioned in the answer to snailboat's question, What is the わ in 忌まわしい and 嘆かわしい?.
Another apparent iterative / repetitive ...
12
votes
1answer
638 views
In Okinawan, what is the ン in ウチナーンチュ?
The Okinawan word for "Okinawa" is ウチナー, for "person" is チュ, and for "Okinawan" (person) is ウチナーンチュ.
I'd like to know where this ン comes from between the part for "Okinawa" and the part for "person". ...
11
votes
1answer
323 views
Are there more terms similar to 上京 or 来阪 for going to Japanese cities?
I've seen that 上京する "going to Tokyo", 来阪する "going to Osaka" are used to refer to visiting these cities.
What other terms are in use for visiting other cities? Which of them are commonly understood?
9
votes
2answers
192 views
第 [dai-] vs 目 [-me] in forming ordinal numbers
As I understand fo now 第 [dai-] and 目 [-me] both turn 5 to fifth.
五匹の犬 [go-hiki no inu] five dogs
五匹目の犬 [go-hiki-me no inu] the fifth dog
Here everything is clear.
Articles and books say you ...
8
votes
1answer
244 views
How can I say “With the passing of time…”?
I am writing a text and I want to say:
With the passing of time, I have understood what he wanted to say.
I have written:
時間がたつにつれて、彼が言いたかったことが分かってきました。
Is my sentence completely wrong?
8
votes
1answer
633 views
The meaning of 吸口 in this context
The situation (story from Edo period, but in contemporary Japanese, at most stylised on old language): three thieves A, B, and C working in a group. Pickpocket A is caught in a crowd, B disappears ...
8
votes
2answers
228 views
Looking to understand a fantasy name
This is related to Beyblade, regarding a team exclusive to a game that didn't get translated to English. Each blader has their own holy beast to command and I'm not getting the name of one of them.
...
7
votes
1answer
367 views
A name for common words that use uncommon kanji?
I didn't see a duplicate for this in the similar questions, so here goes. Is there either a list of words like this, or a name for this type of word (made of two very rare/complex kanji, but the word ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Meaning of, Transitive verb in “te form” + iru vs Intransitive verb in “te form” + iru
When I learnt Japanese I was taught that a transitive verb in its "te form" followed by the verb "iru" represents a continuous action. However, this is not the case with intransitive verbs which ...
6
votes
0answers
104 views
五段動詞特異的なイ音便について
Are there any explanations for the 五段動詞-specific イ音便 of 連用形+た/て that aren't based/dependent on the 子音語幹/母音語幹 explanation for the differences in 五段動詞/上一段動詞 conjugations?
For example, take 開く and 飽きる, ...
6
votes
1answer
176 views
Specific use of してまで
Recently I've been reading Michael Emmerich's "New Penguin Parallel Text" for Japanese short stories. In Yoshimoto Banana's "A Little Darkness," there's a passage that describes how the narrator's ...
6
votes
1answer
168 views
ものを and conditional
I read the following sentence while learning about ~ものを:
すぐに病院へ行けばいいものを、行かないで悪化させてしまった。
Which I would translate into (probably not perfectly natural English, but something like that):
Though it ...
6
votes
0answers
138 views
Why are 湖 and 山 in geographical names typically read in On-reading but 川 in Kun-reading?
This question is based on my somewhat limited understanding and observation of places I have been to so I may be falling victim to a bad sample size. If that is the case, please alert me.
In the ...
6
votes
1answer
200 views
I need help with those sentences: 「～と思われる」「～ように思われる」
日本語を習う時はローマ字を使わない方が良いと思われる。
日本の将来の見込みは暗いように思われる。
彼は金持ちであるように思われる。
Why does the first one use と and the second and third one use ように?
