Geometry in Native Japanese - 1 - Introduction

I must admit that the geometrical world in ancient Japanese (say more than 1,500 yeas ago) were very poor as compared with the Chinese and Western worlds.

There were no native Japanese words for point, line, surface, solid (I think that the word solid should be more developed  in  abstract sense). I think that China developed these concepts most and fairly early as they already had spacious abstract words very early although I am not sure when. Let's compare spacious abstract words in English, Chinese and Native Japanese. The Japanese seems to have imported the Chinese spacious words early as these words were just what they wanted for certain uses.


0) 0D - point                     Chinese    点　　　　　　 Native Japanese　め（me; 目 or eye）

1) 1D - line                       Chinese　　線　　　　　　Native Japanese　すじ（su-ji; 筋 or stripes in muscles, veins）

2) 2D - surface or area      Chinese　　面　　　　　　Native Japanese　おもて（o-mo-te; 面 or face）

3) 3D - solid or volume     Chinese　　体（立体）　　Native Japanese　かたまり（ka-ta-ma-ri; 塊 or lump）

The modern Japanese are the same as the above Chinese. It may be natural to use some parts of the human body to express space related concepts. And it is a huge jump to develop abstract words for spacious concepts.

The next post we will discuss "point" or め（me; 目 or eye）.



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No equivalent Japanese words - 1 - the - 2

In the last post I said "Chinese did not and do not have <the> either but they speak their language a lot with almost no problem." and "その（sono) is not an exact equivalent to <the> .....  There is one solution to this problem. This is the next story."

The Chinese solved this problem by using different words and/or word orders while the Japanese solved this problem by using 助詞（じじょし、jyo-shi) or "helping words" . It is generally better to use their own original method to express the meaning of <the> than by using somewhat strange direct word by word translation. This is a very important aspect of the languages including grammars.

1) The Chinese solved this problem by using different words and/or word orders.

Examples

 He walked up to me and asked me where the post office was.
   他走到我面前，问邮局在哪儿。
There used to be a post office there.
   以前在那里有一个邮局。

2) The Japanese solved this problem by using 助詞（じじょし、jyo-shi) or "helping words"

Is there a (or any) post office near here?
この近くに郵便局が(ga)ありますか。
Where is the nearest post office from here?
ここから一番近い郵便局は(ha)どこですか。

The differences between  が(ga) and は(ha) are sometime subtle but exist. You can say ＜この近くに郵便局は(ha)ありますか。＞ but you cannot say ＜ここから一番近い郵便局が(ga)どこですか。＞ as this post office is not a general one (a, any) but definite one - the nearest.

How subtle ? My answer is

＜この近くに郵便局が(ga)ありますか。＞ is a very general question while the question ＜この近くに郵便局は(ha)ありますか。＞ subtly differs in that

a) emphasizing the existence of a post  office - whether a post office exists or not.

b) in case some other thing or things have already been asked (like a police station, supermarket,etc) it is likely to use ＜この近くに郵便局は(ha)ありますか。＞ by emphasizing < a post office> this time.


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No equivalent Japanese words - 1 - the - 1 or こそあど (ko-so-a-do)

There is no equivalent Japanese word for the definite article <the>. You may wonder how the Japanese people speak their language - Japanese - without <the>.  The word <the> is definitely the mostly used word in English. English speaking people will face a problem if there is no <the>. Yes it is now but not true long time ago. Latin did not have a pure form of definite article. Chinese did not and do not have either but they speak their language a lot with almost no problem.They may have a problem when they translate <the> into Chinese because there is no equivalent Chinese word for <the>.

How did the Japanese do with <the> . Demonstrative words (Pronouns and Adjectives) are more common in languages (maybe any language) than the definite article. Even <the> is supposed to have derived from Demonstrative Words like <this>, <these>. The Japanese Demonstrative words are highly developed. So it was very natural to use some of their own Demonstrative words as a close equivalent to <the>. They selected その（sono）.  その（sono） is a Demonstrative Adjective and can be divided そ（so）and の（no）. The Demonstrative part is そ（so）and the Adjective part is の（no）.  There is no very close equivalent English for  その（sono). その（sono) may be the one between <this> and <that>. This is just opposite to <the>. There is no equivalent English word for その（sono).  Maybe a new word <thiat> can work.

As  その（sono) is not an exact equivalent to <the> and retains its original meaning and function as a Demonstrative Adjective in the translated Japanese sentence その（sono) usually sounds strange. There is one solution to this problem. This is the next story.  We will review the differences between English and Japanese Demonstrative words (Pronouns and Adjectives).

As I mentioned above the Japanese Demonstrative words are highly developed. They are very systematic in the meanings, functions and sounds as well. We call them こそあど(ko-so-a-do).

In terms of sounds they are very clear -  the consonants <k><s><d> are basic consonants as well as the vowels. They do not have vowels ' e ', ' i ', ' u ' which are sometimes ambiguous and in between.

Pronouns and Adjectives are simply ans clearly distinguished.

Demonstrative Pronouns Common
これ (ko-re) - this
それ (so-re) - somewhere between this and that
あれ (a-re) - that
どれ (do-re) - which (Interrogative Pronoun)

Demonstrative Pronouns Specialn or Personal Pronouns
こなた (ko-na-ta) - this person
そなた (so-na-ta) - this or that (somewhere between) person
あなた (a-na-ta) - that person
どなた (do-na-ta) - which person (Interrogative Personal Pronoun)

These were originally Demonstrative Direction Nouns

Demonstrative Adjectives
この (ko-no) - this
その (so-no) - somewhere between this and that
あの (a-no) - that
どの (do-no) - which (Interrogative Pronoun)

There is no differences between Pronouns and Adjectives in English while there are simple but systematic differences in Japanese.

Demonstrative Space Nouns
ここ (ko-ko) - here
そこ (so-ko) - somewhere between here and there
あそこ (a-so-ko) - there  Note:  not あこ (a-ko)
どこ (do-ko) - where (Interrogative Space Noun)

Demonstrative Direction Nouns
こちら (ko-chi-ra) - this way
そちら (so-chi-ra) - somewhere between this way and that way
あちら (a-chi-ra) - that way
どちら (do-chi-ra) - which way (Interrogative Direction Noun)

Demonstrative Similarity Adjectives
こんな (ko-n-na) - similar to this, like this
そんな (so-n-na) - similar to this or that (somewhere between) , like this or that (somewhere between)
あんな (a-n-na) - similar to that, like that
どんな (do-n-na) - similar to which (what), like which (what) (Interrogative Similarity Adjective)

Note: In Japanese these adjectives are placed before a noun while in English these adjectives are placed after a noun.

Demonstrative Adverbs
こう (ko-u) - in this way
そう (so-u) - in a way of between this and that
ああ (a-a) - in this way, Note:  not あう (a-u)
どう (do-u) -  in which (what) way (Interrogative Adverb )

- - - - -

Besides こそあど(ko-so-a-do), か(ka) is used but limited to some uses.

In modern Japanese used as a Demonstrative Personal Pronounかれ (ka-re) -  English word <he>
Used as Demonstrative Space Noun
かなた (ka-na-ta) - geographically a farther away from あなた (a-na-ta) - that place
Demonstrative Adjective
かの (ka-no) - geographically a farther away from あの (a-no) - that


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Preface of sptt Native Japanese Dictionary (やまとことばじてん)

This dictionary "sptt Native Japanese Dictionary (sptt やまとことばじてん)" is for those, either Japanese or non-Japanese, who are interested in the Japanese language. This dictionary differs from other Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionaries in that

1) this will be very tiny due to the limited time of the editor (sptt);
2) not in alphabetical order - at least this first edition;
3) despite the title name "Native Japanese Dictionary ”, the order of entries are either English --> native Japanese or native Japanese --> English.
4) as the title name "sptt Native Japanese Dictionary (sptt やまとことばじてん)" shows it uses native Japanese words as much as possible and Chinese origin and English (and some other European language) origin Japanese words as little as possible;
5) because of 4) Japanese are written in "Hiaragana" with occasional uses of Chinese characters and "Katakana" (which is usually used for European origin words) when necessary;
6) explanations on Grammars (both English and Japanese) are emphasized because of its nature of a part of sptt Notes on Grammar;
7) may never end.

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