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    Japanese in Depth Vol.4
    Japanese in Depth Vol.4
    Japanese in Depth Vol.4
    Ebook34 pages32 minutes

    Japanese in Depth Vol.4

    By International Communication Institute

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    About this ebook

    This is vol.4 of the collection of monthly columns contributed to The Daily Yomiuri, Japan's nationwide English newspaper. It amusingly illustrates how mindsets are different between English and Japanese. It's an eye opener for English as well as Japanese.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInternational Communication Institute
    Release dateJun 18, 2012
    ISBN9781476313481
    Japanese in Depth Vol.4
    Author

    International Communication Institute

    The International Communication Institute is a language institute based in Tokyo, Japan.ICI was founded in 1987. Since then, it has continued to bridge cultural differences through communication. Recently ICI created a unique Japanese textbook series called "Step Up Nihongo". It went on to develop the e-learning version of the textbooks called "eSUN" and now has an online class to study with a Japanese instructor.ICI is continuing to do its best to provide meaningful content for those interested in studying Japanese.

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      Book preview

      Japanese in Depth Vol.4 - International Communication Institute

      Japanese in Depth vol. 4

      Copyright 2006 by International Communication Institute

      Smashwords Edition

      31. Language Evolution

      By Shigekatsu Yamauchi

      Founder of ICI (the International Communication Institute)

      www.stepupnihongo.com

      www.icijapan.com

      I long thought that the Japanese adjective nayamashii referred to a restless state of mind－when one is stimulated sexually, among other things. These days, however, it is seldom used for this meaning, but rather used when a situation is too difficult to permit clear-cut distinctions between right and wrong.

      The word obviously stems from the verb nayamu meaning agonize, suffer and worry. Originally it referred to conditions of those types, either physical or physiological. In this older usage, nayamashii was not the type of word likely to come up in open discussion or debate. These days it very often has nothing to do with physiology: nayamashii can be quite conveniently used to describe political, social or economic situations where the speaker has a hard time distinguishing things one way or the other and thinks things too thorny for simple explanations or solutions.

      Although we can never identify the particular individual who started using the word incorrectly, this meaning seems to have become widely accepted. Even if my old Kojien dictionary, the Japanese language bible, does not provide this meaning yet, it has established itself, and I’m quite sure it is here to stay.

      Slang, on the other hand, is more transient. Rather than extending or modifying meanings of existing words, as in the nayamashii example, slang seeks novelty. Young people are good at creating new words; here are two popular adjectives in use among contemporary Japanese youngsters, created afresh by God-knows-whom: yabai and uzai.

      Yabai is basically an adjective meaning chancy or risky, but it is frequently used almost as an interjection. It performs a warning or alerting function regarding imminent risk, like ‘uh-oh’ in English. Many years ago it occurred to me that Japanese lacked a good equivalent to ‘uh-oh.’ I must admit that the youthful deployment of the word yabai seems to fit pretty well.

      Uzai is presumably a contraction of urusai, an adjective meaning annoyingly noisy, which functions as an equivalent to Shut up! in English. Uzai, however, is used by youngsters to show frustration, annoyance or dislike.

      Another interesting apparent contraction is kimoi, which might come from the adjective expression kimochi-warui, meaning feels bad or unpleasant. This contraction seems to be a reasonable development, as it shortens the lengthy original. Kimoi does not seem to have spread beyond the younger generation, however.

      Some newer verbs created by youth seem particularly symbolic

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