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Anonymous
12:21 AM
Hey, this question went completely under my radar:
 
Anonymous
0
Q: Etymology of 武蔵

jogloranWhat is the etymology of the old province and Japanese name 武蔵? Wikipedia claims that it is non-Yamato vocabulary from an Ainu language. Even if this is true, why were these characters (military/weapon + store) chosen as ateji?

kanji etymology ateji
 
Anonymous
I gave it an upvote :-)
 
Anonymous
(Though I have no idea what the etymology of 武蔵 is myself)
 
Choko
Choko
6:18 AM
武蔵　たけくら
ぶぞう
 
jkerian
jkerian
7:13 AM
@AustinFrench Many places where an English-speaker would use I/me, it's unnecessary in Japanese. (usually the word choice or conjugation already handles it) Because it's usually unneeded, it can be taken as emphasizing the person, rather than neutrally communicating.
It would be as if I, and this is me you understand, were to randomly, in my conversations, repeat variations on the pronouns that refer to myself, over and over.
 
Choko
Choko
8:12 AM
A: あっ、あの～・・・い、いえもとさん・・・ですか？
B: はい。
A: あ、おれ～・・・
B: あ～っ、待って！当てます。おだ・ゆうじさん
A: いえいえいえ・・・（orいやいやいや・・・）
B: ・・・じゃあ、ないですよね～。
って聞こえます。
@snailboat わからないです
 
 
3 hours later…
Tim
Tim
10:49 AM
@AustinFrench There is an extra dimension to this use of いただく (and related words such as もらう、あげる、くれる　etc) which ties into something else you said. Japanese sentences are normally written from the speakers point of view, and this is one the ways it is kept up in Japanese (but not in English).
This ties in with your other comment about being told not use I/me excessively: One of the reasons I/me does not have to be used is because the speaker is already talking from his/her point of view. Verbs such as 頂くand くれる make the need for I/me words redundant.
 
 
4 hours later…
Anonymous
2:34 PM
@Choko Oh, I have trouble hearing the 「いえいえいえ」 / 「いやいやいや」, thank you for the transcription :-)
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@Choko ありがとうございます！　m(_ _)m
 
Anonymous
3:17 PM
This question was edited and has four re-open votes, so I cast the fifth re-open vote:
 
Anonymous
-1
Q: Is 漢字 flexible when 漢字 is used to form compounds?

RidhoIs 漢字 flexible when 漢字 is used to form compounds? I will take 客 as an example: Can 客 form a compound with 席, 娟, 席, and all the other thousands of Japanese 漢字? If I put 席客, but not 客席, will the meaning be different? Or will it just have no meaning? Or is it only a grammar error? Even if it's a ...

kanji
 
Anonymous
But I'm still not sure how I would answer it personally…
 
Anonymous
Hopefully one of the other re-open voters can do so :-)
 
Anonymous
4:38 PM
I think this user is conflating the writing system with the language itself
 
Anonymous
But they didn't understand my earlier comment…
 
Anonymous
I'm not sure how to communicate with them effectively
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
4:50 PM
How often is it here that the OP asks whether the answerer is a native speaker or not?
 
Anonymous
Not very often.
 
Anonymous
But we have several users who are willing to point out when people make mistakes―whether those people are native speakers or not
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I speculated that. I think it's not polite to ask, most of the time.
That's fair.
 
Anonymous
Well, I put in my profile:
 
Anonymous
> Hello! I'm learning Japanese!
 
Anonymous
4:53 PM
:-)
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Hehe!
 
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. The comment I just saw on ELL struck me as rude.
 
Anonymous
But I think that user is a troll of sorts.
 
Anonymous
On the one hand, when a native speaker answers based on their experience, that user demands that they provide hard evidence to back up their native speaker's intuition
 
Anonymous
On the other hand, they demand to know whether users are native speakers
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
4:56 PM
nods -- That's true, too!
 
Anonymous
I'm not happy with the attitudes some users appear to have toward non-native speakers on ELL
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Me either.
Sometime I think it's not only toward non-native speakers.
 
Anonymous
Nima regularly asks only native speakers to answer, for example, which to me seems unnecessary
 
Anonymous
I mean, there are times when you do want to ask a native speaker.
 
Anonymous
But I don't think very many questions on ELL fall into that category
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
4:59 PM
Ahh... I think their questions reflect a very specific way of learning.
 
Anonymous
Lang-8 is actually a good site if you want to ask native speakers their opinion on something
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Ah, that site. I'm not sure if it really works. It might work in some cases, I think.
 
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. You get all sorts of responses.
 
Anonymous
Some are very helpful :-)
 
Anonymous
A lot of users, though, I think, want to make Lang-8 friends that fit their language pair, like English⇔Japanese
 
Anonymous
5:03 PM
And I think it's harder for native speakers of many other languages to get as many responses
 
Anonymous
Another disadvantage is that native speakers don't always know what they're talking about… I've seen some strange comments on English by native speakers there
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
It would be the best if that happened regularly.
 
Anonymous
But that's true on ELU or ELL, too.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I guess some pairs are way easier to make. :)
 
Anonymous
The site is Japanese in origin, I think
 
Anonymous
5:05 PM
So J⇔E is a common pairing there
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Ah, Japanese users would have a fair chance.
 
Anonymous
But there are users who speak lots of languages there.
 
Anonymous
I've written some broken Japanese there
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
How about Thai ⇔ Tonga? :-)
 
Anonymous
A few times, I deliberately experimented with some Japanese constructions I wasn't really comfortable with, to see what responses I'd get :-)
 
Anonymous
5:07 PM
But I decided that probably wasn't the best way for me to learn
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I helped editing a few Thai posts there. Only just a few.
 
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. Probably relatively few!
 
Anonymous
Ahh
 
Choko
Choko
5:39 PM
なんか、不満がある様子・・
「日本語で質問してくれていいよ！」って言ってあげたほうがいいかな？
 
Anonymous
I didn't actually downvote any of their questions
 
Anonymous
They deleted two of their questions
 
Anonymous
 
Anonymous
 
Anonymous
I'm not sure how to help at the moment, though :-(
 
Anonymous
5:53 PM
1
Q: How is て行く being used in すすんで行く and さいて行く?

PanzercrisisI came across すすんで行く and さいて行く in a vocabulary list, and it was immediately obvious that there was probably some sort of grammatical construct involving て行く that was in use here. I don't really know what this grammatical construct means though, and it's apparently something different than just c...

grammar te-form
 
Anonymous
This is a good question. Actually, I don't think my mental concepts of 〜ていく and 〜てくる are quite right yet
 
Anonymous
I think sometimes I misinterpret them
 
Anonymous
Although it might be hard to tell how 〜ていく and 〜てくる are used without any context…
 
Anonymous
You aren't asking about any particular example sentences, just the possible meanings for each of these phrases? — snailboat ♦ 8 secs ago
 
Anonymous
I guess without actual examples, it's about as general as "what are the possible meanings of 〜ていく and 〜てくる"…?
 
Anonymous
6:02 PM
I'm trying to figure out whether it's more specific than our existing general question:
 
Anonymous
21
Q: Difference between -ていく and -てくる

nevan kingCan someone explain the differences between v-ていく and v-てくる for me. I know that they both express some kind of ongoing action (like a place getting crowded). For example, what's the difference between 込んでいく and 込んでくる, or is it even possible to use both of these. Also, do you generally use kanji t...

grammar word-choice usage te-form
 
Anonymous
〜ていく and 〜てくる are so common in Japanese you'd think I'd have a good handle on them by now, but it's all a bit vague in my mind :-(
 
Anonymous
7:55 PM
@DamkerngT. I think people here have a general idea of which users are native speakers, though.
 
Anonymous
I make a point of referring to myself as a learner when it comes up
 
Anonymous
Other users, such as 非回答者さん, tend to write things like "us native speakers", letting readers know
 
Austin French
Austin French
I can vouch for Lang-8 being good for Japanese and English feedback. Other languages are pretty spotty. Tagalog seems to have a decent following, as well as Mandarin.
 
Anonymous
I would encourage people using Lang-8 for English to try to figure out which users give the best corrections. I have seen some things written about English I don't agree with
 
Anonymous
A few users seem a little … off
 
Anonymous
8:08 PM
But overall it seems like a great site :-)
 
Anonymous
(I don't feel like I'm in a position to criticize native speakers of Japanese, so I'm limiting my comments to English)
 
Anonymous
I don't know why this was downvoted: japanese.stackexchange.com/a/18018/1478
 
Austin French
Austin French
One thing I can say: I have seen a ton of bad information but it is accurate of what a visitor with see if they visit much of the USA. Bad grammar, but it does expose them to common bad practices like tense confusion as a "correction" on a perfectly fine sentence.
 
Anonymous
I'm more concerned with people saying things are wrong when they're actually fine
 
Anonymous
Although I guess I've seen people incorrect things
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
8:34 PM
@snailboat Ah, that's a good clue!
I might try Lang-8 once again after the third month. :-)
 
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. I decided a little while ago that I was better off exposing myself to lots of native Japanese for the time being
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
That is definitely better!
 
Anonymous
8:50 PM
I guess I consider myself an intermediate learner.
 
Anonymous
Some people here seem to consider me an advanced learner, but I think these people are wrong, insomuch as putting people into categories is possible in the first place :-)
 
Anonymous
Still, discussing and writing about Japanese is pretty fun. I feel like it's helpful for me!
 
Anonymous
I've learned a lot over the course of the two years I've been here
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Hah! According to my standard, someone who can transcribe whatever they want to correctly at 90% or above level is definitely not just an intermediate leaner.
 
Anonymous
Oh, but that last 10% is tough! ;-)
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
8:52 PM
Probably it depends on where we draw the line between intermediate and advanced. :)
@snailboat It is!
I think that standard (the one used in Europe) added upper-intermediate, recently.
I have a feeling that their highest level doesn't guarantee even the level of 95% correctness.
Things might've been changed, but according to what I read a few years back, they allow the leaner to adjust themselves to the speech of the speaker a bit.
Which, imo, lowers the bar quite a lot.
 
Anonymous
Ahh, I don't know too much about that
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I think it's a good framework, though. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
 
Anonymous
9:11 PM
Also, I need to do a lot more listening practice! :-)
 
Anonymous
I can tell it's helping a lot. Maybe not day-to-day, but month-to-month
 
Anonymous
I can hear Japanese a lot better than I could just one year ago
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Yay!
 
Anonymous
I think it all comes together eventually.
 
Anonymous
Learning vocabulary and grammar helps with listening practice.
 
Anonymous
9:19 PM
But listening practice helps with vocabulary and grammar.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Ah, I have a nick name for it. I call it the Ping-Pong Effect. :-)
 
Anonymous
Ah :-)
 
Anonymous
Nice name!
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Thanks!
 

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