Unanswered Questions
671 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
16
votes
2answers
1k 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 ...
14
votes
0answers
1k 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 ...
8
votes
0answers
170 views
Where does the -a stem come from with auxiliary-constructed transitive/intransitive verb pairs if the base verb is a 二段活用 (or カ行変格活用)?
It seems to be generally understood that transitive/intransitive verb pairs, when they are not a 四段活用 and a 二段活用 that share the same 終止形, were created by taking a base verb, whether transitive or ...
8
votes
2answers
345 views
Help understanding だからこそ、という場合もある
I'm struggling to understand the sentence in the exchange below. To explain the context, these characters have been shipwrecked and landed on an unknown island. They find that several of their ...
7
votes
1answer
331 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 ...
7
votes
1answer
169 views
What is the origin of っこない?
There's a construction V+っこない which means something like "have no way of doing V".
お前には分かりっこないでしょう。
There's no way you would understand.
Is it known what this construction originates from? ...
7
votes
1answer
370 views
What is the difference between といったところです and というところです?
銀行に変化を促しているのがタイの中央銀行です。 日本で言えば、日銀が腰を上げて、変革の旗振り役をしているといったところです。(source)
Could we replace といったところです by というところです here? If yes, what would be the difference? If not, why?
7
votes
1answer
724 views
Casual Speech Particles in Classical Japanese
I'm writing a simple Japanese skit for my class and there is a place where an ancient samurai needs to speak a few sentences of Classical Japanese.
I can mostly make the sentences, but it seems weird ...
6
votes
1answer
350 views
What does ギスる mean?
Conversation goes:
A: まだひきずっていたのか
B: え、お前忘れたの？ギスってたの俺だけ？びっくりする
B: 次はねぇぞ
The ギス I know means having a cold atmosphere or strained relationship. But here, I am not sure I get what it means.
6
votes
1answer
412 views
Why 気にされる instead of 気にする?
These two characters are discussing ヒューバート in the below, and about how he lacks self awareness. However I am not sure why 気にされる was used instead of 気にする here. I know that される can be used as an ...
6
votes
0answers
143 views
How did the on-readings with -チ appear?
This is what I know.
1) Unlike, say, -p, the final -t of Chinese readings was maintained in careful speech at least as long as the Christian resources of the XVIth century (Frellesvig 2010: 316-7). ...
6
votes
1answer
184 views
How can I differentiate if a word is (either fully or preferentially) used for spoken or written language?
Sorry if this has been answered before, but I couldn't find it.
I understand that when the on'yomi reading is used, this is associated with words with a more "literary" feeling or with written usage. ...
6
votes
1answer
351 views
“~Ni” or “~De”?
Should I use (に or で) for the following lines? Since they are time periods, I thought に would be correct, according to
Times
The particle ni is usually used with times:
Go-ji ni ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the difference between に伴って and と共に？
Can somebody explain to me the difference between と共{とも}に and に伴{ともな}って？ I believe that sometimes they can be used interchangeably, but not always. Moreover, their basic meanings also seem to differ. ...
6
votes
1answer
339 views
Is writing the “wa particle” as は a modern convention?
Recently, I was given a copy of Complete Course of Japanese Conversation-Grammar by Oreste and Enko Elisa Vaccari. As it dates back to 1967, I was expecting at least a few things to be a bit old-...
