Speaking without using subjects
One thing you don’t hear very often when speaking English is someone saying, “Wait, what’s the subject of your sentence? Oh, okay.” But in Japanese, a language that often omits the subject since it’s understood by both parties anyway, it’s possible to be in the middle of a conversation and suddenly need to verify what the other person is actually talking about.
While cutting down a sentence like “Shall we go to lunch now?” to just “Go?” may sound odd to English speakers, it’s usually not a problem in Japanese — if you were talking about someone specific going somewhere, you’d put that in the sentence, but if the meaning is obvious from the context, it makes sense to shorten things.
I’ve noticed that when Japanese speak English they sometimes use the wrong third person singular pronoun, saying “she” when talking about a man and so on, and this seems to be related to the fact that in their native language they never have to consciously specify a gender-based pronoun for a person when referring to them.
There’s nothing more embarrassing than when the invisible Japanese subject causes you to lose the thread of what’s being said around you, and one skill smart learners master early on is how to B.S. others, making them think you’re following along when you have no idea what’s being said. Phrases like so desu ne, which should mean “Yes, that’s so,” but often means nothing at all, are a good place to start.
“eeeeehhhhh sugoi, such a clever!”
December 1st, 2007 at 4:31 pmNaru hodo! …
December 2nd, 2007 at 4:28 amErrr, while the main point of your post (Japanese permits the omission of the subject) is sound, the tendency for some Japanese to say what sounds like “she” when referring to a man is something different, I think.
In the Kanto (Tokyo and environs) dialect, the hiragana “shi” and “hi” are pronounced backwards; in other words “shi” sounds like “hi” and “hi” sounds like “shi.”
Examples:
1. the word for “seven” is “shichi,” but it is often pronounced “hichi.”
2. the word for “necessary” is “hitsuyou,” but you can hear it pronounced like “shitsuyou.”
This tendency originated in the Kanto area, but you can hear it in other regions of Japan too.
When you hear someone say what sounds like “she” when they meant “he,” and you point the “error” out, the Japanese person may just laugh it off and say something like “oh, he’s a guy, of course!” thinking that they must have misspoke.
Of course, maybe it was just a silly mistake. We all make them!
Here it is from Wikipedia:
“Shitamachi-kotoba, the fast-fading dialect of old families from Eastern Tokyo called “Shitamachi” (This means “low-lying towns”) , is another example of a Tokyo dialect that differs from standard Japanese. This dialect is primarily known for the inability to pronounce or distinguish some phonemes which are considered wholly distinct in all other Japanese dialects. Most famous is the decreased distinction between “hi” and “shi”, so that “hidoi” (terrible) becomes “shidoi”, and “shichi” (seven) becomes “hichi”. Though it also includes a few distinctive words, today it is largely indistinguishable from the standard speech of Tokyo other than the phonemic difference.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_dialects)
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:09 amThis problem with “sh” makes for some pretty hilarious situations.
I remember when I first got here being pretty amused when someone told me to, “Please s(h)it here.”
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:44 pmShitamachi/Edo dialect is quickly disappearing, like the wiki article wrote. You really need to talk to some older locals to hear it today. Otherwise some of the older families that have long been involved in traditional arts (kabuki, etc.) still cultivate it as a sign of status. But you won’t find many younger folks speaking it (except maybe inside the home). I don’t think you’ll find it out in greater Kanto, either. I’ve run into a lot of local dialects in Kanto, but never that one from anyone who isn’t an Edokko.
I think Peter’s point on mixing up pronouns is correct. I know Japanese who are quite fluent in English, but still have problems with gendered pronouns or missing subjects.!
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:38 pm