JP1000 Lecture 6


Existential sentences:

[Place] NI [Subject] GA      |      arimasu      {inanimate subject}
          indefinite         |      imasu        {animate subject}

[Topic] WA [Place] NI        |      arimasu/arimasen
definite                     |      imasu/imasen

    Daigaku ni shokudoo ga arimasu.
    Kurasu ni gakusee ga oozee imasu.
    Ginkoo wa hon-ya no soba ni arimasu.
    Tomodachi wa koko ni imasen.

Dimensions

    MAE                'front'      
    USHIRO             'back, behind'     
    YOKO               'side'

    TONARI             'next to, next door'
    CHIKAKU            'nearby, vicinity'
    SOBA               'nearby'
    -HEN               'vicinity'
    -ATARI             'vicinity'

    TEMAE              'on this side'  
    MUKOO              'on the other side, beyond'  
    SAKI               'ahead'      
    -GAWA              'side'

    NAKA               'inside'     
    SOTO               'outside' 

    UE                 'top, above'              
    SHITA              'below, under' 

    MIGI               'right'      
    HIDARI             'left'
    
    TSUKIATARI         'end of the alley'


[Place]    NO     [Dimension]     NI/WA

    Ginkoo no tonari ni yuubinkyoku ga arimasu.
    Uchi no tonari wa hana-ya desu.
    Kono chikaku ni kooen ga arimasu ka?
    Kissaten wa kono biru no shita ni arimasu.               

Particle NI: static locative

NI is required by existential verbs: arimasu/imasu/gozaimasu/orimasu

    Eki no mae ni ginkoo ga arimasu.
    Heya no naka ni neko ga imasu.


Politeness: Honorific/Humble/Neutral [to be expanded later]

    Honorific: Sp promoting H/H's peer              
                         Sensee wa irasshaimasu ka?

    Humble:    Sp demoting self/peer                                       
                         Kinoo watashi wa uchi ni orimashita.

    Neutral:   Sp beautifying utterance              
                         Ii kuruma ga gozaimasu.


DESU as a pro-form

    Satoo-san wa doko | ni imasu ka?
                      | desu ka?
    Denwa wa eki no mae | ni arimasu.
                        | desu
    Dare ga kimashita ka?  Suzuki-san | ga kimashita.      
                                      | desu. (limited use)

DESHOO: conjectural/tentative [politeness]

Kono eega wa | omoshiroi |deshoo.\           'probably'         
             |           |deshoo./           'Don't you think ....?'
             |           |deshoo ka.\        'Do you think ....?'
             |           |deshoo ka (nee).\  'I wonder .....'
             |           
             | doo        deshoo ka.\        'What do you think .....?'

Demonstratives for place [ref. demonstratives]

basic            polite           familiar/informal

koko             kochira            kotchi
soko             sochira            sotchi
asoko            achira             atchi
doko             dochira            dotchi

KO/SO/A/DO-CHIRA:

1. choice        : one out of two     Dochira ga ii deshoo ka.
2. direction     :            way     Kochira e doozo.
3. location      :  polite            Zasshi wa achira ni gozaimasu.
4. person        :  polite            Kochira ga watashi no sensee desu.


Multiple particles

Discourse Particles WA/MO/DAKE/SHIKA replace GA/O/(NI) but follow others.

          Hikooki wa Nihon kara mo kimasu.
          Furansu e shika ikimasen.

Word-formation

    Nominal suffix -YA 'shop, dealer, delivery man'
    -san is added to refer to people.

          hon-ya             'bookstore, bookseller'
          shinbun-ya         'newspaper distributer, delivery person'
          yuubin-ya          'letter carrier'
          pan-ya             'bakery, baker'
          saka-ya            'liquor shop, wine dealer '
          yao-ya             'vegetable store, greengrocer'
          sakana-ya          'fish-shop, fish dealer'
          niku-ya            'butcher shop, butcher'
          hana-ya            'flower shop, florist'
          kusuri-ya          'drugstore, pharmacist'
          toko-ya            'barber shop, barber'


© Norio Ota 2000