Re: conversation partner

From: Sean Holland (seanholland_at_pants.telus.net)
Date: 07/05/04 

Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 16:21:09 GMT

in article XseGc.11300$7W1.4200@newssvr27.news.prodigy.com, necoandjeff at
spam@schrepfer.com wrote on 7/5/04 8:28 AM:

> "Curt Fischer" <crf3@po.cwru.edu> wrote in message
> news:2kt941F628cvU1@uni-berlin.de...
>> Adam Atkinson wrote:
>>
>>> When will I find out the Japanese for "to have"? After 1 year
>>> at 2 hours per week we've yet to be told this: we've
>>> been told that we can use "arimasu" if we're talking about
>>> having appointments, things to do, work or money, but not
>>> for other things. It feels quite surprising to know how
>>> to say "I want X", "I want to do X", "I am good at X",
>>> "I went to X by Y with Z yesterday" but not "I have X".
>>>
>>> Do Japanese people never say they have things? Is saying
>>> you have something fraught with complications I'm not
>>> currently equipped to deal with?
>>
>> A good question. I bet people with better Japanese than mine could make a
>> decent case for translating every "have" below into different Japanese
>> verbs, only one of which would be "aru".
>>
>> I'll have dessert.
>> I have a disease.
>> I have two dollars.
>> I have red hair.
>
> I get zero arus:
>
> $B%G%5!<%H$rD:$-$^$9!#(J
> $BIB5$$G$9!#(Jor $BIB5$$KXm$C$F$$$^$9!#(J
> 2$B%I%k;}$C$F$$$^$9!#(J
> $B@V$$H1$NLS$7$F$$$^$9!#(J
>
> Note, the latter is actually an interesting example. Most Japanese of course
> wouldn't point out that their hair is black (although nowadays they might
> since it is becoming so unusual...) and *everything* else is just kinpatsu.
> I'm actually a redhead myself (well, I used to be when I had hair...) and I
> always had the toughest time explaining to Japanese the distinction between
> blonde and red hair. I've known Japanese who have lived in the states for
> years and who still have trouble making the distinction. If you don't have
> black hair you would just be $B6bH1$G$9!#(JI eventually gave up and just
> referred to myself as $B6bH1(J (before the word $BGm$2(J completely took over
> anyway...) If anything I would explain that in the U.S./West we refer to my
> hair as being red (a completely different sentence from above of course.)
>
> Jeff
>

And yet if you say the word "Canada" the phrase $B@VLS$N%"%s(J comes blurting
out of half of the Japanese in existence. Curious. 

---
pantsseanholland@telus.pants.net Remove pants to email me.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: conversation partner
    ... >> Do Japanese people never say they have things? ... > I have red hair. ... blonde and red hair. ... years and who still have trouble making the distinction. ...
    (sci.lang.japan)
  • Japanese Girls With Prada Bags & Dyed Gaijin Hair
    ... I feel that the quality of Japanese ladies travelling ... overseas sems to be declining. ... (without having to dye their hair and embrace all things western). ... Surely there are some girls out there who read the newspapers more than ...
    (soc.culture.japan)
  • Re: Jorden at MIT
    ... > could be hair or paper. ... "Kami" is a good one for the list, ... wonder if you could write something like "kami-o kiru" intending "I'm ... I haven't spent enough time, perhaps, in a Japanese ...
    (sci.lang.japan)
  • Re: =?ISO-2022-JP?B?GyRCPzckPyRLSC84KyQ1JGwkPyEiTFo0Sj5lJE5PQhsoQg==?= =?ISO-2022-JP
    ... that earlier Japanese might have had an -like vowel later replaced by ... I don't see how there could be a Meiji e/ye distinction. ... Having learned Korean before Japanese, the Korean values of the vowels ...
    (sci.lang.japan)
  • Re: bit by ants
    ... People are not strict about it. ... Japanese don't often make the distinction. ... > lighting because I get a thrill watching both, ...
    (sci.lang.japan)