The verb, “to say” is an useful word in probably just about any language. However, \u300c\u8a00\u3046\u300d\uff08\u3044\u3046\uff09, the Japanese word meaning “to say”, is practically essential because in addition to the simple action of gabbing, it is also used to define or describe things. In this post, I will go over how to combine the \u300c\u3068\u300d quotation particle with \u300c\u3044\u3046\u300d to define things.<\/p>\n
I remember back during my tender years in Japanese 101, one of the first phrases I learned was \u300c”XXX”\u306f\u3001\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u3067\u4f55\u3068\u8a00\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3002\u300d, which means “How do you say “XXX” in Japanese?” (I’m not talking about porn here, the “XXX” is a placeholder for any word.) Of course, at the time, it was written more like \u300c”XXX”\u306f\u3001\u306b\u307b\u3093\u3054\u3067\u3000\u306a\u3093\u3068\u3000\u3044\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3002\u300d because exposing Japanese 101 students to kanji would instantly render them blind. Anyway, my point is that this is one of the first expressions we dutifully memorized and already it uses grammar that involves the \u300c\u3068\u300d quotation and \u300c\u3044\u3046\u300d.<\/p>\n
While the \u300c\u3068\u3044\u3046\u300d combination, of course, can be used to quote things<\/a> people actually say, it can also be used to describe what something is referred to as.<\/p>\n \u5f7c\u306f\u300c\u306f\u3044\u300d\u3068\u8a00\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f<\/b>\u3002 \u300c\u30e9\u30a4\u30d6\u30c9\u30a2\u300d\u3068\u3044\u3046<\/b>\u30b5\u30a4\u30c8\u306f\u77e5\u3063\u3066\u3044\u308b\uff1f There is no good way to translate this usage directly into English so we have to settle for similar expressions such as “referred to as”, “called”, or “known as”. This method of defining things can be mighty handy when you want to ask about definitions of words in Japanese. For instance, here is conversation from \u300c\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u306e\u843d\u3068\u3057\u7a74<\/a>\u300d, a book I will be talking about in another post.<\/p>\n L: \u7530\u4e2d\u5148\u751f\u3001\u540d\u5b57\u306f\u4f55\u3067\u3059\u304b\u3002 The problem here is that the student wants to know what \u300c\u540d\u5b57\u300d means but ends up asking, “What is [your] last name?” What he really wanted to ask was, \u300c\u540d\u5b57\u3068\u3044\u3046\u306e\u306f\u4f55\u3067\u3059\u304b\u3002\u300d, which means something along the lines of, “What is the thing referred to as \u540d\u5b57?” or more literally, “What is the thing that’s said \u540d\u5b57?”<\/p>\n Basically, this grammar is used anytime you want to talk about the thing itself.<\/p>\n \u65e5\u672c\u4eba\u306f\u304a\u9152\u306b\u5f31\u3044\u3068\u3044\u3046\u306e\u306f\u672c\u5f53\u304b\uff1f As you can see in this example, the thing that is being discussed is the actual phrase \u300c\u65e5\u672c\u4eba\u306f\u304a\u9152\u306b\u5f31\u3044\u300d itself and whether it’s true or not. Here’s another similar example.<\/p>\n \u671d\u3054\u98ef\u3092\u98df\u3079\u306a\u3044\u3068\u3044\u3046\u306e\u306f\u3001\u3042\u307e\u308a\u3088\u304f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u3088\u3002 In this fashion, the \u300c\u3068\u3044\u3046\u300d is defining the very action of “not eating breakfast” and describing it.<\/p>\n You can also combine \u300c\u3053\u3046\u300d\u3001\u300c\u305d\u3046\u300d\u3001and \u300c\u3042\u3042\u300d with \u300c\u3044\u3046\u300d to define things in general. In this case, you do not need the \u300c\u3068\u300d so you end up with \u300c\u3053\u3046\u3044\u3046\u300d\u3001\u300c\u305d\u3046\u3044\u3046\u300d and \u300c\u3042\u3042\u3044\u3046\u300d to means “things like this”, “things like that”, and “things like that (far away)” respectively.<\/p>\n A: \u7720\u304f\u3066\u3001\u5b66\u6821\u306b\u884c\u304f\u6c17\u304c\u5168\u7136\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\u3002 B: \u305d\u3046\u3044\u3046\u6642\u3001\u3088\u304f\u3042\u308b\u3088\u306d\u3002 If you’ve spend any length of time speaking in casual Japanese, you may have noticed \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d being used all the time. That’s because \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d is an all-in-one, magical casual abbreviation for \u300c\u3068\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3068\u3044\u3046\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3068\u3044\u3046\u306e\u306f\u300d\u3001and \u300c\u3068\u306f\u300d. Because \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d is so short and flexible, you end up wanting to use it basically anytime you want to talk about the thing itself.<\/p>\n A: \u30de\u30a4\u30af\u304c\u547c\u3093\u3067\u3044\u308b\u3088 \u3002 B: \u30de\u30a4\u30af\u3063\u3066<\/b>\u3001\u8ab0\uff1f A: \u307e\u3060\u4ed5\u4e8b\u304c\u6c7a\u307e\u3063\u3066\u306a\u3044\u3093\u3060\u3002 B: \u5c31\u8077\u6d3b\u52d5\u3063\u3066<\/b>\u3001\u5927\u5909\u3060\u3088\u306d\u3002 As you can see from the examples, using \u300c\u3068\u3044\u3046\u300d and its casual counterpart \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d to define things is a vital part of the Japanese language. Sometimes, it’s optional; for times when you want to emphasis that you are talking about the thing itself. Other times, like the \u300c\u540d\u5b57\u306f\u4f55\u3067\u3059\u304b\u300d example, it might be required or else you end up saying completely different. In either case, \u300c\u3068\u3044\u3046\u300d and \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d is very useful whenever you want to define and talk about the topic itself.<\/p>\n To see if you truly understand the distinction between using and not using this grammar, try out these neat questions from \u300c\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u306e\u843d\u3068\u3057\u7a74\u300d .<\/p>\n \n\uff11\uff0e \uff12\uff0e \uff13\uff0e Feel free to post your answers in the comments. I’ll be waiting!<\/p>\n This is the first of three posts discussing \u300c\u8a00\u3046\u300d.<\/p>\n The second post is about “Using \u300c\u3068\u3044\u3046\u304b\u300d to rephrase things”<\/a>“. The verb, “to say” is an useful word in probably just about any language. However, \u300c\u8a00\u3046\u300d\uff08\u3044\u3046\uff09, the Japanese word meaning “to say”, is practically essential because in addition to the simple action of gabbing, it is also used to define … Continue reading
\n– He said<\/b>, “yes”.<\/p>\n
\n– Do you know the site referred to as<\/b> “livedoor”?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nT: \u540d\u5b57\u306f\u7530\u4e2d\u3067\u3059\u3088\u3002
\nL: \uff1f\u30fb\u30fb\u30fb\u540d\u5b57\u306f\u4f55\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f
\nT: \uff1f\uff1f\uff1f<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n– Is it true that Japanese people are weak to alcohol?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n– The thing of not eating breakfast is not very good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n– I was sleepy and didn’t feel like going to school at all.<\/p>\n
\n– That kind of time occurs a lot, huh?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe reason why you hear \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d all the time<\/h3>\n
\n– Mike is calling you.<\/p>\n
\n– Who is this “Mike”?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n– The job has yet to be decided.<\/p>\n
\n– The “finding job” thing is tough, huh?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nConclusion<\/h3>\n
\n\u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068\u305d\u3053\u306e\u96d1\u8a8c\u3092\u53d6\u3063\u3066\u304f\u308c\u307e\u305b\u3093\u304b\u3002
\n\uff08\uff21\uff1a\u96d1\u8a8c\u306f\uff0f\uff22\uff1a\u96d1\u8a8c\u3063\u3066\uff09\u3053\u308c\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f<\/p>\n
\n\u3042\uff5e\u3001\u306e\u3069\u304c\u4e7e\u3044\u305f\u3002\uff08\uff21\uff1a\u51b7\u305f\u3044\u30d3\u30fc\u30eb\u304c\uff0f\uff22\uff1a\u51b7\u305f\u3044\u30d3\u30fc\u30eb\u3063\u3066\uff09\u98f2\u307f\u305f\u3044\u306a\uff5e\u3002<\/p>\n
\n\u3053\u306e\uff08\uff21\uff1a\u30c1\u30e7\u30b3\u30ec\u30fc\u30c8\uff0f\uff22\uff1a\u30c1\u30e7\u30b3\u30ec\u30fc\u30c8\u3063\u3066\uff09\u3001\u304a\u5b50\u3055\u3093\u306b\u3042\u3052\u3066\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\u3002\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\nThe third post is about “Various ways to say \u300c\u3044\u3046\u300d<\/a>“.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"