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 )

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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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