--- In [email protected], "randhir_nag"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Thanks so much foryour reply.
> So,to summarize,'to' and 'for' would both translate into 'ni'
> particle in Japanese?
>
> How about the sentence 'Nottingham is famous for Robinhood'.
> Which one of the following will it translate into:
> Nottingham wa Robinhood de yumeii desu
> OR
> Nottingham wa Robinhood ni yumeii desu.>
NOTTINGHAM wa ROBIN HOOD de yuumei desu. (Speaking of Nottingham, it
is famous for Robin Hood.)
When you replace "wa" with "ga", you change the emphasis from the
fact to the subject. So, "NOTTINGHAM ga ROBIN HOOD de yuumei desu.
"NOTTINGHAM wa ROBIN HOOD ni yuumei desu." would also be correct,
but this actually means, "To Robin Hood, Nottingham is famous."
English and Japanese are very different, so simply drawing
comparisons between the two often yields inaccurate results. For
example, consider the title of a certain manga that I like to
read: "Mahotsukai ni taisetsu-na koto" = [lit.] "Things dear to a
magic user". Of course this would not make sense as a title in
English. So, when on sale in the U.S. and Canada, the same work is
known as "Someday's Dreamers". Considering the semi-romantic nature
of the work, this seems a more fitting title to Anglophone ears.
My point is that Japanese particles often carry nuances that are not
adequately expressed by English prepositions. In the above title,
one could replace "ni" with "no" and it would still be correct, but
then the actual meaning implies possession rather than a state of
emotion. Thus, the meaning one gets is something like "The dear
things belonging to a magic user". Thus, the "thing" in question
becomes material rather than emotional.
Japanese particles do not function like our prepositions in English.
In fact, Japanese particles are POST-positions, not prepositions.
Also, particles in Japanese often have more than one function,
depending on the context in which they are used. English
prepositions also exhibit similar characteristics, but these are not
so similar that equivalent comparisons can be made between both
languages. Thus, it's better to look at the function of particles in
Japanese, rather than compare their meanings to certain English
counterparts.
- Arian I.
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