Essential Japanese Vocabulary. Akira Miura
(1), and “early,” as in (2).
EXAMPLES:
(1) Jidōsha wa jitensha yori hayai.
自動車は自転車より速い。
Automobiles are faster than bicycles.
(2) Hayakawa-san wa okiru no ga hayai.
早川さんは起きるのが早い。
Mr. Hayakawa gets up early.
These two meanings of hayai, however, require two different kanji. In the sense of “fast, quick, speedy,” hayai is usually written 速い hayai, while in the sense of “early,” it is always written 早い hayai.
Although context usually makes the meaning quite clear, the word could be ambiguous in some cases, as in
EXAMPLE:
(3) hayai basu
早いバス
a fast (or early) bus
This ambiguity can be avoided, however, by the use of other expressions.
EXAMPLES:
(4) supīdo ga hayai basu
スピードが速いバス
a fast bus (lit., a bus whose speed is fast)
(5) asa hayai basu
朝早いバス
an early morning bus
Ha
Hayaru はやる is most normally used with reference to fads and fashions, as in
EXAMPLES:
(1a) Konogoro Nihon de wa donna heasutairu ga hayatte-imasu ka.
このごろ日本ではどんなヘアスタイルがはやっていますか。
What hairstyle is fashionable in Japan these days?
(1b) Furafūpu ga hayatta no wa nanjū-nen mo mae no koto datta.
フラフープがはやったのは何十年も前のことだった。
It was decades ago that hula hoops were the rage.
Hayaru はやる could be used about infectious diseases, too.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Fuyu ni naru to, itsumo iya na kaze ga hayaru.
冬になると、いつもいやな風邪がはやる。
Every winter nasty colds become rampant.
Hayaru はやる also means “to become popular,” as in
EXAMPLE:
(3) Ano mise wa hayatte-iru rashii.
あの店ははやっているらしい。
That store seems popular.
You can talk about a kind of art, such as a type of music and a particular literary genre, as being hayatte-iru はやっている, but you cannot talk about a particular person being hayatteiru はやっている. For a person being popular, ninki ga aru 人気がある is used instead.
EXAMPLES:
(4a) Bītoruzu no ongaku wa rokujū-nendai ni zuibun hayatte-ita (or ninki ga atta).
ビートルズの音楽は六十年代にずいぶんはやっていた（人気があった）。
The Beatles’ music was very popular in the 60s.
(4b) Ronarudo Rēgan wa nakanaka ninki no aru (not *hayatte-iru はやっている) daitōryō datta.
ロナルド・レーガンはなかなか人気のある大統領だった。
Ronald Reagan was a pretty popular president.
Although both hayatte-ita はやっていた and ninki ga atta 人気があった are acceptable in (4a) above, there is a difference in connotation. Hayatte-ita はやっていた connotes that the Beatles’ music was prevalent, i.e., everywhere you went, you heard it, whereas ninki ga atta 人気があった simply means their music was popular, i.e., it was well-liked by a large number of people.
Hayaru はやる also connotes “fashionable, prevalent, or popular over a limited length of time.” In the following sentence, therefore, hayatte-iru はやっている is inappropriate and should be replaced by ninki ga aru 人気がある because the sentence is about an almost timeless situation.
EXAMPLE:
(5) Amerika-eiga wa Nihon de Nihon-eiga yori ninki ga aru (not *hayatte-iru はやってい る).
アメリカ映画は日本で日本映画より人気がある。
American films are more popular than Japanese ones in Japan.
If you used hayatte-iru はやっている in this case, it would indicate that the phenomenon is just a temporary fad, which certainly is far from the fact. (See also NINKI and SAKAN.)
Ha
The Japanese sense of morality is shame oriented while the Western counterpart is sin oriented, so say a number of scholars including Ruth Benedict, author of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. It is probably true. Japanese speakers certainly use the word hazukashii は ずかしい very frequently.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Musuko ga hen na koto o shite hazukashii.
息子が変な事をしてはずかしい。
I am ashamed that my son behaved so strangely.
(2) Aitsu wa hazukashii yatsu da.
あいつは、はずかしいやつだ。
He is a shameful scoundrel.
(3) Ano ko wa hazukashii rashikute koko e ki-tagaranai.
あの子は、はずかしいらしくてここへ来たがらない。
That child apparently feels shy; he doesn’t want to come out here.
“Ashamed” and “shy” are two entirely different adjectives in English, but in Japanese hazukashii はずかしい takes care of both. Obviously, in the Japanese speaker’s mind, being ashamed and being shy have something in common. A person who feels ashamed does not wish to face others. The same holds true with a shy person.
Hē? へえ Really?
Hē? へえ expresses mild suprise and disbelief in response to someone’s remark, as in the following dialogue.
EXAMPLE:
(1) A: Tanaka no yatsu Tōdai ni ukatta n datte sa.
田中のやつ東大に受かったんだってさ。
Did you hear Tanaka was accepted by the University of Tokyo?
B: Hē? Tanaka ga?
へえ？田中が？