Liner notes: Chapter NineIf you aren't already familiar with this character's speech pattern through other sources, then here is the info. ^^ This bit of Japanese doesn't change the meaning of the sentence at all. It's merely a quirky ending added to the end of just about every sentence he says as a character trait. Now, to be honest, the proper usage of "no da" DOES have meaning. Its usage at the end of a sentence indicates that what was just said is important background info or is signifigant to the current situation. The excellent example (slightly reworded) given in one of my grammar books is, "If your acquaintance found you crawling around on the floor, they might ask, 'What are you doing?' In English, you would answer with something like, 'I dropped my contact lens.' In Japanese, this would require a 'no da' at the end, because 'I dropped my conact lens' is the explanation for why you are crawling around on the floor." In even more simplified terms, adding "no da" at the end of your sentence informs the reader you just said something important, instead of making them realize it themselves. "No da" is actually a shortened form of "no da no bun". "No da" can be further shortened to "n da", or just "no". (Hence, a source behind the common trait in women's speech of ending sentences in "no".) To complicate matters, recall that "da" is an informal form of "desu". So someone could also say "no desu" at the end of their sentences for the same meaning. More or less. ^^ As always, ask a native Japanese person for the most accurate info!! This phrase can also be contracted to just "n'da". While writing my novelizations, I pay careful attention to this character's sentences. I do my best to use his no da's whenever he uses them in the original Japanese dialogue. This can be a bit awkward at times, but since his constant usage of the phrase is also awkward in Japanese, I figure it serves its puprose. ^^ Besides, they can be so CUUUTE!!! ^^ And for the record, the first anime character to use this speech pattern was in a very old anime titled "Bakabon". <:P
This is the proper Mandarin name of the typical shallow, cone-shaped straw hat. My original description of his hat went, "a straw cone hat that one would expect to see in China." But since our story IS set in China, and since I always believe in learning as much as you can about what you love, I asked my Chinese-American friend for the proper name for those hats. And now, you have another little bit of FY trivia to use to dazzle your friends! :D Just for accuracy, do li is pronounced "Doh Lee". ^^
Quickie for the uninterested: Don't look! I was lucky when I began to learn Japanese grammar. I found an awesome book at the local public library, Xeroxed the entire thing, and still use it to this day. The book had an excellent explanation for conjugating Japanese verbs. Not only did it explain it all quite well, it used classical terminology, which--believe it or not--makes things much easier after you master it. Here we go!!! Most Japanese verbs can be divided into three categories: Ichidan, Yodan, and irregular. This liner note is concerned with the first category, Ichidan. Ichidan verbs are easy to spot, because their plain/dictionary form ends in -eru or -iru. Just about every verb you see that ends with those two readings are Ichidan verbs. ^^ The list of exceptions to this rule is very short, especially by grammatical standards! Ichidan means "one-base". This is because you always use the same bit of the verb to conjugate it into all its separate forms for all those different inflections of meaning. Miru ends in -iru, hence, it is an Ichidan verb. To conjugate a Japanese verb, you tag different endings onto the verb's stem, or its base. Be it past tense, passive voice, I-want-to, how-about, what-if, etc etc etc, it's all going to begin the same way: with the stem! For example, the verb "miru", which means "to see". To form any different tense or voice of the verb miru, you're going to stick the appropriate ending onto the verb's stem. To find the stem, simply drop the -ru at the end of the verb. Therefore, the stem of miru is simply "mi". ^^ Now, the ending that you add on to a verb to make it the informal negative is "nai". So you stick "nai" at the end of "mi" and you get...*drumroll*...Minai! "Don't look!" Heh, sugoi, ne?? Just wait until I find a good opportunity to delve into Yodan verbs. If Ichidan means one-base, and Yodan means four-base....you do the math!!!
A literal translation of the line is "Nuriko, what was?!" That sounds quite awkward in English, but stop and think for a moment. Obvisouly something major happened while Tamahome and Miaka were away, but whatever it was, it is now over, thus in the past tense. A figurative translation would be, "Nuriko, what happened?!" ^^ This line requires a bit more stretching of English definitions than the sentences I have left untranslated before now, which is the reason I decided to offer a bit more help than simple word definitions. :)
To be honest, I have no explanation for this blatantly obvious time discrepancy. The anime implies that the attack of the arrows hits the moment Miaka is yanked away, yet we witness Tamahome searching for Miaka, Miaka's interaction with her abductor, and even have enough time for Tamahome to ask if she is daijoubu. THEN, we hear Nuriko's scream. I can only guess that they played up the events with Miaka to give the newest character a proper, enigmatic introduction. Aside from that...your guess is as good as mine!
Quickie for the uninterested: "Please come!" The -te form of a verb is integral to the Japanese language. It is used for imperatives, continuatives, forming the informal past tense, and a bazillion other things. ^^ Formally, a -te verb cannot stand alone in a sentence, it must be followed by another verb or statement to make its meaning complete. Of course, in causal dialogue this rule is conveniently forgotten. >< "Kite kudasai" is an excellent example to begin with, as it is a formal use you can find in any Japanese grammar book. "Kite" is actually the -te form of the verb "kuru", which means "to come". Kuru is one of the two irregular verbs in the language. Because it is irregular, its -te form must be memorized, you can't figure it out by examining the dictionary form of the verb, like you can with just any other verb. Now, adding "kudasai" after the -te form of a verb changes it into a polite request. Therefore, "come" is changed into "please come!" This is a slightly more formal way of using the imperative/command form when compared to the other option, which requires the addition of a verb suffix, similar to "nai" used above. The villager's respect of Tamahome can be seen in this line, with the usage of -san after his name and this -te kudasai form. ^^ Creating the -te forms of verbs is simple, with the exception of the two irregular verbs, kuru and suru. (Their -te forms are kite and shite, respectively.) For any other verb, look at how it is spelled! Most grammar books that I have seen make this process much more difficult than it needs to be. Again, I lucked out with that book I found in the public library. ^^ Here we go! If the dictionary form of the verb ends in -u, -ru, or -tsu, change that ending to -tte. Au becomes atte, uru becomes utte, tatsu becomes tatte. If the dictionary form of the verb ends in -mu, -bu, or -nu, change that ending to -nde. Yomu becmes yonde, tobu becomes tonde, shinu becomes shinde. If the dictionary form of the verb ends in -su, change that ending to -shite. Sasu becomes sashite. If the dictionary form of the verb ends in -ku, change that ending to -ite. Kaku becomes kaite. If the dictionary form of the verb ends in -gu, change that ending to -ide. Nugu becomes nuide. For Ichidan verbs (verbs that end in -eru and -iru), replace JUST the -ru with -te. Miru (from above!) becomes mite, shimeru becomes shimete. Memorize those rules above, and you'll be forming -te verbs without any problems. ^^
Manjuu are small round balls of bread stuffed with filling, kind of like a cross between a roll and a filled donut. The manjuu is made at least partially of yeast, yet it's steamed as opposed to baked, so I'm not really sure it qualifies as bread. *scritches head in puzzlement* Anyway, they can be filled with a variety of things, but a common one is sweet bean paste. The villager is using manjuu as an example here because they are an inexpensive food. Tamahome could be charging a great deal more, but instead, he's working realatively cheap. Who'd have believed it??
"This is the first time I've seen Tamahome's face...like this." This line I cannot give a confident grammatical explanation, but I can certainly explain the kimochi behind it. "Tamahome no kao o" is straight-forward. It's the verbs that are funky. >< This sentence has two: hajimete, the -te form of hajimeru (whose definition and usage here is a paragrph in itself), and mita, which is the informal past tense of miru, to see. I suspect that Miaka is not using formal grammar in this sentence, which makes it difficult for non-fluent students to research in grammar books. "Mita" sets the tense for the whole sentence, which means it is in the past tense. Japanese is like English in that the modifier/adjective always comes BEFORE the object it's working on. IE: Akai hana/red flowers. Therefore, "hajimete" is modifying "mita". "Hajimeru" is a fun verb that cannot be neatly defined by one English word. In usage, it can mean to begin, to start, OR the first time/event. Since hajimete comes before mita, we get "first time seen" in this sentence. A literal translation of the sentence comes to, "The first time I have seen Tamahome's face." But due to the context, and Miaka's pause before the verb, we know that she means this is the first time she has seen Tamahome so truly happy. Not because of money, not because of her, but because of his family. It seems there's more to Tama-chan than we first thought, ne?? ^^
Quickie for the uninterested: shiranai = do not know. As mentioned in the Ichidan verb section, Yodan verbs have four stems used to conjugate. Five actually, when you include the 3rd base/dictionary form. Now at first glance, conjugating Yodan verbs can be a bit confusing, but stick it out! It will make sense, yakusoku yo. I mentioned above in Japanese verbs part one that you form verbs by sticking various endings onto the base/stem of the verb. Well, with Yodan verbs, it is exactly the same! Only there is one difference: instead of using the same base/stem of the verb all the time in every situation, you have FIVE possibilies! Woohoo! First, remember the five Japanese vowels, and the order they go in. This order is very important, you need to memorize it. They are: A, I, U, E, O. And they are pronounced "Ah", "Ee", "Ooh", "Eh", "Oh". Those five vowels are what make up the bases of a verb. ^^ By far the best way to understand using Yodan verbs is to see an example. And for our example verb, we will use the verb that brought you here, "shiru", which means "to know". Now, you might be thinking, "But wait, 'shiru' ends in 'iru', which makes it an Ichidan verb, right?" Usually, yes. But the verb "shiru", meaning "to know", is one of the very few exceptions to the -iru/-eru = Ichidan verb rule. For the record, the other exceptions I know of are: Kiru (to cut), kaeru (to return), hashiru (to run), iru (to need--note this verb is different from iru (to be)!, hairu (to enter), and mairu (to come) humble form. All of these verbs are Yodan, and are conjugated just like below. ^^ The first base of a Yodan verb ends in -a. Shiru in the first base is: Shira. This means nothing alone, it's just a part of a word. To make it a verb you can use, you have to stick endings on it. Recall from the Ichidan section again, the example verb we used was Miru, the negative form of which is Miranai. That -nai ending, like all the other endings in Japanese, can be used with either Ichidan, Yodan, or the two irregular verbs. And it just so happens that the proper base used with -nai is...*drumroll* the FIRST one! Therefore, the negative informal form of shiru is the first base: Shira + nai = Shiranai. "I don't know." Ta-da! The second base of a Yodan verb ends in -i. Shiru in the second base is: Shiri. An example ending used in the 2nd base is -masu, which makes the polite version of the verb. This is the safe, respectable form, and the one foreigners are expected to use in Japan. This is the form always taught in Japanese language classes, because of its implied respect to the listener. Shiri + masu = Shirimasu. To know. Of course, you can add -masu to our Ichidan verb above, miru. Remember, miru is an Ichidan verb so the stem is just mi. Mi + masu = Mimasu, to see. The meaning of "shirimasu" is exactly the same as the plain form of the verb, shiru. It is just more formal. The third base of a Yodan verb ends in -u. Shiru in the third base is: Shiru. Yes, it's the same!! The third base is considered the "plain" version of a verb, and is how a Japanese verb is listed in a dictionary. Thus, third base, plain form, and dictionary form all mean the same thing. ^^ Because you are dealing with the entire, normal verb in the third base--rather than just a form of it--most of the endings used with the third base of a verb are more complicated than those with the other four bases. In romanji (English letters), they are often not attached to the verb, unlike shiranai and shirimasu above. An example third-base suffix is -tsumori, wich means "intention". Shiru + tsumori = Shiru tsumori. I intend to know. For the same reason, you use a whole Ichidan verb to conjugate when adding a third-base ending, just like you use the whole Yodan verb. Therefore, we have miru + tsumori = miru tsumori, I intend to see. The fourth base of a Yodan verb ends in -e. Shiru in the third base is: Shire. This base is not as common as the first three. An example suffix is -ba, which forms the conditional, or "if...". Therefore: shire + ba = shireba. "If I know, then ___." Of course, in our Ichidan example, we have mi +ba = miba, if I see. This base can also have meaning if used alone. (The third base doesn't count, since that is the normal form of the verb.) Just saying "Shire!" is an imperative form. "Hey you! Know!" It is not nearly as polite as the -te kudasai form mentioned in Japanese verbs part two. You would not use this on a superior or stranger, unless you intentionally wanted to offend them. You've heard this form all the time in anime. When a villian is attacking the hero, the villain might shout "Shine!" (She-nay!) It is the fourth base of "shinu", to die. Or when the cute girl is grabbed by the lecherous guy, she might scream "Hanase!" (Ha-nah-seh!), which is the fourth base of the verb hanasu, to separate/to set free/to part/to divide. ^^ The fifth and final base of a Yodan verb ends in -o. Shiru in the third base is: shirou. This base is not nearly as common as the first three, and has less usages than even the fourth base. That extra U tagged at the end just means you hold out the O sound for two beats instead of one. I'm not sure it applies to all Yodan verbs, but I wouldn't be suprised. ^^ Like the third base, the fifth base doesn't have simple endings to stick on. For example, adding to suru (about to, tried to.) Thus, shirou + to suru = shirou to suru. "I try to know". (As a side note, that suru on the end can be conjugated as well. Ohboy!) And like the fourth base, the fifth base can be used alone, in the "let's ___!" sense. So, shirou! = "Let's know!!" Omedetou, you have now learned the three facets of Japanese Verbs. *deep bow*
Quickie for the uninterested: "Dad, don't worry. It's taken care of." Technically none of the words in that senteced required glossary or notes links, since they have already had their links for this chapter. But Tamahome is having a bit of fun with his grammar, so I decided it was better to make sure everyone understood what he was saying. The subject of the sentence, ore, is properly marked by wa, only Tama stuck it at the end of the sentence instead of the beginning. Ii is the all-important adjective. The verb, n da, is an informal usage of Chichiri's no da's. (See the 2nd paragraph in the no da section at the top of the page.) If you are observant, you'll note that Tama is using the form properly, as opposed to Chichiri's quirky speech pattern. The adjective is indeed signifigant to the current situation, since it is the reply to his father's worries about Tamahome's domestic future. So to sum up, Tamahome reassures his father with that line. Literally, he says, "Dad, I'm good." Figuratively, he says (in my opinion, at least!) "Dad, don't worry. It's taken care of." *^^*
Quickie for the uninterested: Nii-chan is better!! This sentence is a form of comparision. When only one object is mentioned in a comparison sentence, this form is used: (Object) no hou ga (adjective) desu. Yurien is skipping words, quite understandable for one so young and in this particular situation. She is still saying the same thing as if she used the proper form above, just less properly. The "hou ga" literally means "the side of..." In usage, we know that she doesn't mean Tamahome's side, but rather, the side of the situation that includes Tamahome. ^^ I must agree, Tamahome no hou ga ii desu YO!!! Woohoo!
In Japan, they have euphanisms for the physical side of the levels of a relationship, just like the "bases" in the West. Iin Japan, they use the English letters A, B, and C. A is kissing. B is petting. And C is sex. ^^
The ...ni naru sentence is both easy to indentify and easy to understand. "Naru" means "to become". Now, stop and think for a moment. "Ni" can mean both location and to. So if we say, "Miaka wa Tamahome no oyomesan ni naru", we get "Miaka Tamahome's bride to become." In other words, "Miaka will become Tamahome's bride." You can replace the subject with anything, or whatever the subject will be becoming with anything. IE: Yui wa Suzaku no Shichiseishi ni naru = Yui will become a Suzaku Shichiseishi. No, that isn't a spoiler, just an example using vocabulary you know. ^^ "Naru" in this sentence is in the informal past form, which is made by taking the -te form of the verb, and changing the ending -e to an -a. Hence, this line's English translation has "the becoming" bit in the past tense. IE: "Miaka wa Tamahome no oyomesan ni natta" is "Miaka became Tamahome's bride." Keep reading for more info...
This usage has nothing to do with what it appears to be, which is the "want-to" form of "miru", to see. Instead, this sentence uses "mitai" as "seem to be, appear to be". As far as I can recall, I have not seen the "want-to" form of a verb mean something quite different like this for any other verb. Perhaps this "seem to be" usage is rooted in the "want to see" form...but I have no way of knowing. Gomen! Regardless of how it came about, (something) mitai defintely means the speaker appears to be that (something)!
Don't forget that written Japanese is based on imported Chinese, as explained in the notes for Chapter One. By this time in her life, Miaka knows at least 2,000 different kanji, but she knows them as used in the Japanese language. Her trying to read pure Chinese would be essentially the same as an English speaker attempting to do the same with Latin. We might be able to figure out a word here and there, but we would have no sure idea of the overall meaning. Because of this, Miaka can puzzle out the odd bit of information from Shijintenchishou, but has no chance of lucid comprehension.
In Japanese, a repetition of a word serves to emphasize it. "Nan" means "What", therefore, Miaka is REALLY asking what is going on. ^^ You see the same thing with other words, such as "ai shiteru ai shiteru yo", which is "love you love you". ^^
The reasons for Tamahome's taking offense is quite obvious, once you put yourself in his shoes. First, remember that this story is being told in Japanese. A complete stranger using the friendly -kun honorific the very first time he speaks to Tama is presumptuous. It can certainly be taken as a lack of respect, since Tamahome has never met this man before. Add to the fact that the stranger has twice done Tamahome's job and saved Miaka from harm, and it's easy to take his familairity as implied disappointment, or even disrespect with Tama's performace. On the surface, this may seem as merely someone else telling Tamahome how to do his job. Yet the usage of -kun after his name adds a great deal of depth to his reaction. A depth that is missed in a simple English translation of just "Tamahome". These shades of meaning are what fans of dubbed anime are missing. A shame, ne?
FY is certainly overrunning with anachronisms, but I just had to point this one out. I seriously doubt that in ancient China, a nod meant "yes". This is most probably a Western custom that was adopted by Japan in the course of modern times, and has become fully ingrained in their culture. Heh. Omoshiroi...
Nuriko is using Miaka's thoughtless nickname for Taiitsu-kun, first seen in Chapter Seven. To reiterate, Sunake-babaa is an old ghost woman of legend who sneaks up on people walking dark city streets and throws sand in their faces, from stories in the late 1800s. Liner Notes for Chapter Nine completed 2-27-03. Last tweaked 12-11-04 |
