| Author | Message | ||
     Matt Lavengood |
This is a question about katakana adjectives, and other adjectives that don't use the suffix "-i," and adjectival nouns. 1. How could I make the sentence: "I am nostalgic," in Japanese? Since the only way to write nostalgic is "nosutarujikku" (adjectival noun) in Katakana (ノスタルジック). So would it be: Watashi wa nosutarujikku na. 2. What about the adverb/noun "hitori?" (一人) In a song, I've seen a sentence "Kimi wa hitori janai" translated as "you're not alone." So what's up with the "janai"? Hope you can answer these. | ||
| Matt Lavengood |
also, I have seen the name "Matthew" in katakana, written like マシュウ instead of マシュー. Why is this. | ||
| info |
Dear Matt Lavengood, 1) Not "nosutarujikku na" but "nosutarujikku da" 2) "janai" is the combination of 2 words ja-nai. Ja is the same as "da" (deformation of "de-aru", i.e "to be") and "nai" is the suffix of negation. 3) It is quite difficult to restore faithfully the original sound of foreign words with Japanese letters. The first writing ends with a short double "u" while the second writing ends with a single long "u". The both should be perceived same for Japanese. Kind regards, | ||
| Anonymous |
another question: what is the conjugation of the verb "ja" then? | ||
| Anonymous |
私は、ノスタルジックな人です。 (watashi wa, nostalgic na hito desu) is probably a better translation. じゃない (janai) is ではない (dewanai) which in turn is ではありません (dewaarimasen) which is the negative-past of です (desu). 例え(tatoe)(example): キミは一人じゃない (kimi wa hitori janai): you are not alone/one person/by yourself. 一人 (hitori) means "one person". Two people is 二人 (futari) and three people is 三人 (san-nin). in the name マシュー (mashuu), there appears a character "ー". This character is a vowel-elongation-character, which means that it elogates the vowel previous by one syllable. It is used more often in katakana for extending sounds. since じゃ (ja) is not a verb, it has no conjugations. じゃ is just a contraction of では (de wa). here is です (desu)'s conjugation: です でした ではありません ではありませんでした でしょう here's だ (da): だ だった じゃない じゃなかった だろう じゃ (ja) is just a more informal pronounciation. above, i could have said じゃありません or ではない. they both work. | ||
| Matjlav |
if "Hitori" (and I actually meant 独り, not 一人) is an adverb/noun, then why does 君は独りじゃない (Kimi wa hitori janai) mean "You're not alone"? It's an adverb, right? And also, would the proper romanization of that me "Kimi wa hitori janai," or "Kimi ha hitori janai," since the "ha" symbol is used to symbolize it. Same thing for "wo" and "o." AND, can a space substitute a comma in japanese? example: はい そうだ = "Yes, he is." And why is 私は、ノスタルジックな人です a better translation? What's the point of a comma? Thanx. | ||
| Matjlav |
oh yeah, about the comma thing, if i'm wrong, then what is a space used for? | ||
| Anonymous |
Hmm. Okay. Very nice questions! I'll try my best to explain as clearly as i can. First, i'll talk about 一人 and 独り... Hitori (both 独り and 一人) are two words which in most (NOT ALL) cases can be interchangeably used. I guess in this case i just took you for the wrong meaning, and i apologize for that. examples: 一人旅(hitoritabi) and 独り旅 (hitoritabi) both have the same prononciation and meaning. They mean "traveling alone". 独り占め(hitorijime) and 一人占め(hitorijime) both mean "monopoly" (not the game, hehe) So, 一人 means "one person" and 独り means "alone" (can also mean unmarried...) | ||
| Anonymous |
Okay, now for the Romanization question! キミは独りじゃない (kimi ha/wa hitori janai) This poses an interesting question as to the "properness" of romanizing anything... How would you go about romanizing mandarin? cantonese? native taiwanese? EXACTLY. Anyway, there is an "official" romanization of japanese, but it comes with a few "exceptions" or "different acceptable ways of doing it" kinda deal. examples: 本を下さい (ほんをください): please give me the book. This sentence contains the caracter を, which, if you are romanizing based on sound would be "o". However, if you were romanizing based on which row it lies in, it would be "wo". じゃない can be "janai" or "jyanai" 傷つく (きずつく) can be "kizutuku" or "kizutsuku" etc.,etc.,etc. So, basically, if you want to go by sound, then by all means say "wa" instead of "ha". Just remember that if you are going to be typing in japanese, you should learn the romanization based on the placement in rows of the kana (these are how most people type): あa いi うu えe おo | ||
| Anonymous |
Now on to the space/comma question! Japanese, as you may and probably do know, does not use spaces for normal writing. About the only time you will see spaces is when japanese people are writing to foreigners (so they make sure that the foreigner can understand which parts are separate words) and in childrens books (so that the kids can read the words more easily. As for a pause, i can't recall having ever seen it used as a pause... Definitely the comma "、" is used for pause, and the period "。" for a full stop, though! When writing essays and formal documents, these will be the only punctuation used (usually) because of the "か" and "よ" taking the place of "?" and "!", but you still need the "。". examples: 何方ですか。(donata desu ka.): Who are you? 今度の金曜日の夜には何をしますか。(konndo no kinn-youbi no yoru ni wa/ha nani o/wo shi/simasuka.): What are you doing this friday night? なにすんだよっ。(nani sunn-da yo(sharp cut-off)): what the hell are you doing!? A: 明日のパーティーへ行きませんか。(ashi/sita no party e/he ikimasen ka.): Will you go to the party tomorrow? B: はい、行くよ。(hai, iku yo.): Yeah! I'm going! I really hope that this makes sence to everyone reading this... Also, i'd like to say that i welcome any opinions/corrections/etc. that people would like to give. | ||
| Matjlav |
but still, in my dictionary it says that 独り is an adverb. So why can you say "Kimi wa hitori janai", as if "hitori" is an adjectival noun? And, you never told me why 私は、ノスタルジックな人です is a better translation... | ||
| Anonymous |
Oh, sorry. I guess that I did forget some things. I shall try to address those now. "alone" can be an adjective or an adverb, right? In this case, it's an adjective meaning "being apart from others". That said, I don't get the problem. Since "are" is the copula, "You are not alone" is "kimi wa hitori janai" "hitori de" is an adverb. Adverbs 'add' meaning to verbs: hitori de aruku: to walk alone. hitori de eiga wo mi ni iku: to go to see a movie alone. hitori de iru: to BE alone (different from "hitori desu" because "desu" is the copula?) here's a reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=alone [quote] a-lone adj. Being apart from others; solitary. Being without anyone or anything else; only. Considered separately from all others of the same class. Being without equal; unique. adv. Without others: sang alone while the choir listened. Without help: carried the suitcases alone. Exclusively; only: The burden of proof rests on the prosecution alone. [/quote] I do, however, agree that this is a confusing sentence, and know that I could be completely wrong! hehe(^O^) ------------------------------------------------- watashi wa, nosutarujikku na hito desu. I said this is a better translation because I had "I am a nostalgic person" in my head for somereason, or, because I just worded my english wrong=P (ToT) Also, it adds more suff to help aide in conveying meaning... maybe... hehe, pulled that from my butt! haha!! To sum-it-all-up, "watashi wa nosutarujikku desu" is perfectly fine! I think i should have said "a more thorough translation"? or something??? i dunno. I guess just, forgeddaboutit!? | ||
| Matjlav |
and just one more thing: why is there a comma in your translation? Why isn't it just "watashi wa nostarujikku na hito da"? After this, I'll be fine. | ||
| Matjlav |
BUT still, directly cut from my dictionary, it says: 独り 【ひとり】 (adv,n) alone, unmarried, (P) In english this may be either an adverb or adjective, but apparently in Japanese it can only be an adverb. So, why is it being used like an adjectival noun? and just one more thing: why is there a comma in your translation? Why isn't it just "watashi wa nostarujikku na hito da"? After this, I'll be fine. | ||
| Mr. Anonymous |
Well, maybe the comma adds emphasis, kinda. Like in that past sentence ("well,")... So, you can write it as either "watashi ha nosutarujikku na hito desu" or "watashi ha, nosutarujikku na hito desu" and, as for 独り, maybe your dictionary just forgot to say adjective, i dunno. i don't understand what the problem is, that's just how it's used. other examples of adjectives with the copula: you are red: 貴方は赤いです。 that car is fast: その車は速いです。 that idol is beautiful: あのアイドルは綺麗です。 (that idol is a beautiful person: あのアイドルは this room is quiet: この部屋は静かです。 things you can't say with the copula: 貴方は赤くです。 その車は速くです。 あのアイドルは綺麗にです。 この部屋は静かにです。 The reason is that adverbs (hence the name "add" + "verb") have to modify a verb: to run fast: 速く走る to become red: 赤くなる to become beautiful: 綺麗になる to walk ALONE: 独りで歩く hope that helps! | ||
| Mr.アノニマス |
i'm sorry, i forgot to finish: that idol is a beautiful person: あのアイドルは綺麗な人です。 here's a dialog: A: あのアイドルは、綺麗ですよね。 B: え、どのアイドルですか。 A: その赤いドレスを穿いているアイドルです。 B: ああ、そのあいどるですか。そうですね。綺麗な人です。 A: That idol, boy, she's beautiful. B: Huh? Which one? A: The one wearing that red dress. B: OH! THAAAAT idol! Yeah, man. She's a beautiful person. That's a pretty hokie dialog, however, i just came up with it on the spot to demonstrate copula/adjective stuff... Mr.アノニマスより | ||
| Mr.アノニマス |
that last あいどる should have been アイドル | ||
| Matjlav Username: Matjlav Registered: 07-2003 |
err... while we're on the subject of contractions, what's up with the contraction of (verb)ちゃった? I know it's a contraction of (te-form verb)しまいました/しまった, but what exactly does it mean? And is there a present form to this contraction? | ||
| Mr. Anonymous |
行く 行ってしまう→行っちゃう 行ってしまった→行っちゃった Also, i was reading up above again, and i realized that i missed something vital. キミは独りではありません・キミは独りじゃない In this situation, 独り is being used predicatively. |