> > N1 is N2 who does V. > > Mr. Ito is a student who is graduating this year. > Does that also mean "Mr. Ito, who is graduating this year, is a student"? > In other words, is this formula also equivalent to "N1, who V, is N2"?
This doesn't matter. You're asking an english question, not a japanese one. 1) Mr. Ito is a student who is graduating this year. 2) Mr. Ito, who is graduating this year, is a student. The difference in emphasis exists in the english language, and you're assuming the same english rules apply to japanese, which is not true. The N1ãVN2ãã construction demonstrates the use of english subclauses in japanese, that's all. IMO, it would be a mistake for you to read anything more than it is. Afterall, your goal is to study the japanese language itself, NOT the RELATIONSHIP between japanese and english. By studying the relationship you're not gaining anything, but you'll be limiting your japanese expressions to its english equivalents. The only way to study japanese is to AVOID translation in your head--- i.e. stop reading japanese through the eyes of an englishman. If you're constantly trying to translate japanese into english everytime you see a japanese sentence, then you're only preventing yourself from understanding the language natively! Consider this japanese passage: ãããããéïããïãçïãããïããããéïããããïãèïãïããèåïãããïãåïãããïãããããããåïããïããæïãïãã éïããïããæïããïãåïããïããåïããïãåïããïãäïããïããããããæïããïãåïãïãããæïããïããããåïãããïãçïãïãããããéïãïããã éïããïãçïãããïãéïãããïããæïãããïãéïããïãåïãïããããããæïãïããããã "Whereupon my image, which had been mirrored so clearly in those jet black eyes, grew hazy and melted away. It melted away rather as a shadow on a pond breaks up when the water is disturbed. At the very instant this thought occurred to me, the woman's eyes snapped shut. >From between her long lashes a single tear slid down her cheek. She was dead." The translator did a very good job. It seems to me that he's trying to preserve the order and the compactness of the original work. But if you look at the two paragraphs carefully, there is NO way that the english version can truly depict what the japanese sentence is saying. The translator uses the word "pond" for éããæ, which roughly means "peaceful/still water." As an englishman, when you hear the word pond, you already have a predefined image of what a "pond" should look like (dimensions, color, etc). But this may not necessarily be the same image that a japanese person would imagine when he/she hears the word éããæ. Afterall, a "pond" in England or America, may look completely different than a "pond" in Japan. Note the english phrase, "At this very instant this thought occurred to me"... this phrase has no equivalence in the japanese paragraph. The translator added this to make the translation work. The japanese version merely says.. "æãåãããæãã." Anyway, if you read the japanese paragraph carefully, there are a lot of little things that are different. Even though the english translation is "roughly" the same, it's NOT the same. You just can't appreciate the japanese version the same way if you translate everything into english in your head. You need to take it untranslated-- i.e. you need to think like a japanese person, not as an englishman who's learning japanese. Anyway, this is starting to get long so I'll stop. :) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/9rHolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Japanese_Language/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
