Essential Japanese Vocabulary. Akira Miura
be introduced to.” Au 会う normally doesn’t mean that. One must say something more specific to express that idea, as in
EXAMPLE:
(7) Kobayashi-san o goshōkai-shimasu.
小林さんをご紹介します。
I’d like you to meet Mr. Kobayashi. (lit., I’m going to introduce Mr. Kobayashi.)
Au 会う corresponds to English “see [someone]” in the sense of “to meet up with and talk to” but usually not in the sense of “to catch sight of” or “to look at” (Jorden, 1, p. 171). For the latter, use miru 見る “to look at” (see MIRU) or mikakeru 見かける “to catch sight of” instead.
Au 会う is never used to refer to a class period, as in (8).
EXAMPLE:
(8) *Nihongo no kurasu wa shū ni go-kai aimasu.
*日本語のクラスは週に五回あいます。
The Japanese class meets five times a week.
To convey that meaning, one has to say the following:
EXAMPLE:
(9) Nihongo no kurasu wa shū ni go-kai arimasu/desu.
日本語のクラスは週に五回あります/です。
Sentence (10) below, which is often directed to me by my American students, sounds strange (apart from the non-use of keigo 敬語) and should be restated as sentence (11):
EXAMPLES:
(10) *Kyō sensei ni ai ni kenkyūshitsu e itte mo ii desu ka.
*今日先生に会いに研究室へ行ってもいいですか。
May I come to your office to see you today?
(11) Kyō wa sensei ni gosōdan-shitai koto ga aru node, kenkyūshitsu e ukagatte mo yoroshii deshō ka.
きょうは先生にご相談したい事があるので、研究室へ伺ってもよろしいでしょうか。
Lit., Today I have something I’d like to consult you about. May I come to your office?
In other words, when one goes to see one’s teacher to ask him a favor or a question, or when one goes to see one’s doctor, ai ni iku 会いに行く should be avoided.
Ban 晩 evening, night
Unlike yoru 夜 “night,” ban 晩 is an anthropocentric term, i.e., a word closely tied to man’s daily life. It roughly refers to the time span from dinner time until bedtime, and thus covers a slightly narrower range of time than does yoru (although there are some exceptions to this rule, most notably hito-ban-jū 一晩中 “all night long,” which is synonymous with yoru-jū 夜中). Nine P.M., for example, could be called either ban or yoru, but 2 A.M. is more likely called yoru than ban. When one talks solely about the natural phenomenon of night with no reference to human life, yoru is the only choice (Tokugawa and Miyajima, pp. 409–10), as in
EXAMPLE:
Tsuki wa yoru ga samui.
月は夜が寒い。
Night on the moon is frigid.
B
Although there are other variants meaning the same thing, ban-gohan 晩ご飯 is probably the most common word in speech for “evening meal.” In America, the evening meal is the biggest meal and is called dinner, but dinner is not always served in the evening; on Sundays, for instance, some families serve dinner at lunchtime. In Japan, too, the evening meal is the main meal, but if, on some special occasion, the biggest meal of the day happens to be served at lunchtime, it has to be called ohiru-gohan お昼ご飯 “lunch” (lit., “noon meal”) and not ban-gohan, since ban-gohan literally means “evening meal.” In other words, whereas dinner may be served at noon, in the afternoon, or in the evening, ban-gohan is always served in the evening, usually at 6 P.M. or thereabouts.
Other variants are ban-meshi 晩飯 (used by men only, informal speech), yūhan 夕飯 (used by both men and women; probably not as common as ban-gohan), and yūshoku 夕 食 (used in writing or in formal speech).
B
English has many expressions for “toilet,” such as “bathroom,” “washroom,” “rest room,” “men’s room,” “ladies’ room,” and “john.” Likewise, Japanese has a variety of expressions for “toilet,” of which benjo 便所 is one. The word should be avoided, however, in polite conversation. Use tearai 手洗い (lit., “hand-washing [place]”), or otearai お手洗い to be even more polite. Toire トイレ, derived from English “toilet,” is also quite acceptable.
Using the word benjo is all right if it occurs as part of compounds such as suisen-benjo 水洗便所 “flush toilet” and kōshū-benjo 公衆便所 “public toilet.”
Benkyō 勉強 study
Benkyō 勉強 most often means “study.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Uchi no musuko wa ima juken-benkyō-chuu desu.
うちの息子はいま受験勉強中です。
Our son is in the midst of studying for entrance examinations.
The noun benkyō 勉強, with the addition of the verb suru する “to do,” becomes the compound verb benkyō-suru 勉強する “to study” (see BENKYŌ-SURU).
EXAMPLE:
(2) Itsu Nihongo o benkyō-shita n desu ka.
いつ日本語を勉強したんですか。
When did you study Japanese?
Having a learning experience is also benkyō 勉強, especially in the expression benkyō ni naru 勉強になる.
EXAMPLE:
(3) Sensei no ohanashi o ukagatte, taihen ii benkyō ni narimashita.
先生のお話を伺って、たいへん良い勉強になりました。
I learned a lot listening to your (lit., teacher’s) talk.
After hearing a talk, Americans commonly say to the speakers, “I really enjoyed your talk.” Japanese, on the other hand, would normally focus on what they learned from the talk, as in (3) above.
Benkyō-suru 勉強する to study
With the compound verb benkyō-suru 勉強する, do not use the object marker o twice, as in sentence (1), to mean “I am studying Japanese.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) *Nihongo o benkyō o shite-imasu.
*日本語を勉強をしています。
Instead, use either (2a) or (2b).
EXAMPLES:
(2a) Nihongo o benkyō-shite-imasu.
日本語を勉強しています。
(2b) Nihongo no benkyō o shite-imasu.