colonel@sunybcs.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (12/27/85)
> Also, no one *ever* obeyed the request "Moo ichido itte kudasai" ["Please say > that again"] Invariably, they either paused and then tried to say what they > just said in English, or they said it in an entirely different way. I varied > it by sometimes asking people to repeat in the same words, or more slowly, > etc., but no one *ever* did. Why is this? A friend has pointed out that > Americans seem to do this, too (Amer.: "You turn right at the signal, then > go straight for five blocks." For.: "Could you repeat that, please?" > Amer.: "Sure. Go down to the light and turn right; go five blocks and you're > there."). Repeating something in the same words for mnemonic purposes is a tool of oral-aural cultures. The U.S. doesn't qualify! Neither, I suspect, does Japan. Paraphrase is more popular in writing-cultures. If you didn't understand it one way, maybe you'll understand it another. Books and Americans don't say the same thing twice. -- Col. G. L. Sicherman UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel CS: colonel@buffalo-cs BI: csdsicher@sunyabva
barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold) (12/30/85)
Just for the sake of confusing discussion further....
"Mo ichi-do itte kudaisai" (please say that one more time) is somewhat
rude in Japanese. As in English, the polite request form is a negative
question ("kudasaimasen-ka"). Of course, asking things politely in
Japanese is complicated by the fact that one answers logically.
So "O-cha wa nomimasenka" (Won't you drink some tea) is answered
"Iie, nomimasu" (No, I will drink)
or "Hai, nomimasen" (Yes, I won't drink).
--Lee Golddas@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/31/85)
In article <2550@sdcrdcf.UUCP> barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold) writes: > >"Mo ichi-do itte kudasai" (please say that one more time) is somewhat >rude in Japanese. Well, yes and no. With a softer tone of voice and an appropriately plaintive facial expression (sorry I can't demonstrate), I think it's fine. For me. Of course, since you're a woman, you're right, the "kudasaimasen-ka" phrasing would be better. For you. Especially if talking to a man. Which reminds me to warn men who learn Japanese from a woman (be she a teacher or a girlfriend ("ne-jibiki" [sleeping dictionary] as Seward notes)): Get away from the habit of always using the polite forms, or you'll sound effeminate. Learn when the polite forms are necessary, and when they're not. Also, watch out for the feminine sentence-ending particles. -- David Smallberg, das@locus.ucla.edu, {ihnp4,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!das
breuel@h-sc1.UUCP (thomas breuel) (12/31/85)
> question ("kudasaimasen-ka"). Of course, asking things politely in > Japanese is complicated by the fact that one answers logically. > > So "O-cha wa nomimasenka" (Won't you drink some tea) is answered > "Iie, nomimasu" (No, I will drink) > or "Hai, nomimasen" (Yes, I won't drink). For polite questions this is, I believe, not true. See the following quote, which agrees with what we have been taught in class: "As shown in example (2) above, 'iie' used as a response to a negative question usually corresponds to 'yes'. Thre are some cases, however, where 'iie' used as a response to a negative question corresponds to English 'no'. (3) A: Genki-soo ni natta ja arimasen ka. You are looking much better, aren't you. B: Iie, mada dame na n desu. No, I'm not well yet. The above question, though negative in form, is actually affirmative in spirit. What the question really means is 'You're looking much better, and that's great!' Speaker 'B' therefore says 'iie' to show disagreement." [Quoted from 'Japanese Words and Their Uses', by Akira Miura] Thomas.