Meaning of 話しかけてくる

[nonezumi]

Hello,

If possible, please kindly help me with translation of 話しかけてくる in the sentence below:

天狗や 雪女、のっぺらぼうなど、いそうでいない
不思議な 妖怪たちが、
あなたのすぐそばに やってきて、いきなり 話しかけてくるかも知れません。

I could translate it as

Braggart and show woman, faceless and so one;
mystery ghosts, which moves imperceptibly,
immediately appears behind to you and, suddenly a tale might begins.

I have made assumption that, expression 話しかけてくる, means "to begin the story".
But I am not sure, if it is correct.

Another difficulty with 話しかけてくる is particle absence. Since かける is transitive verb maybe I can rewrite expression as 話しがかけてくる. But, unfortunately, I am unclear about the reason for particle omission.

Thank you very much!

nonezumi

 

[Toritoribe]

天狗 is a Japanese long-nosed goblin.
Tengu - Wikipedia

妖怪 is not only ghost, but supernatural beings including goblin, monster or like that.
Yōkai - Wikipedia

話しかける is a single verb meaning "to talk to~", and ～てくる expresses that the action is done towards the subject in this case. Thus, 話しかけてくる means "to talk to you(the reader)".


(literally)Mysterious Yokai like Tengu, Show Woman, Faceless and so on, which seemingly exists but in fact does not, might appear besides you and suddenly talk to you.

 

[nonezumi]

Toritoribeさん、

Always thank you for so kind help. :sorry:

If possible, may I ask about which seemingly exists but in fact does not.
Which part of the sentence express such meaning.

In fact I was puzzled with いそうでいない. I could translate it literally as without transport... but of course it is very wrong.

Thank you very much for explaining Japanese folklore supernatural beings.
I never could image this meaning of that sentence.

Thank you very much for you so kind help. :sorry:

 

[Toritoribe]

If possible, may I ask about which seemingly exists but in fact does not.
Which part of the sentence express such meaning.

That's exactly いそうでいない. It's a kind of set phrase.

 

[nonezumi]

Toritoribeさん、

Always thank you for you perfect and kind help. Maybe I need to think about
いそうでいない more

Thank you for your so kind help

nonezumi

 

[hiptanaka]

Toritoribeさん、

Always thank you for you perfect and kind help. Maybe I need to think about
いそうでいない more

Thank you for your so kind help

Could it be two uses of the verb いる (to exist) connected by て-form? First with the ~そうです suffix, meaning seemingly, and second in negative form, いない? That would make sense.

いそうで いない

Just a thought.

 

[Toritoribe]

Could it be two uses of the verb いる (to exist) connected by て-form? First with the ~そうです suffix, meaning seemingly, and second in negative form, いない? That would make sense.

いそうで いない

Just a thought.

That's correct!

 

[hiptanaka]

That's correct!

I doubt I would've seen it if I didn't know the meaning beforehand, though.

 

[nonezumi]

Toritoribeさん、

Thank you very much for your perfect and kind explanations.

hiptanakaさん、

Meaning of いそうでいない was very surprising for me.
Thank you for your kind questions and suggestions.

 

[Glenn]

I was thinking いそうでいない wasn't so much about existence (存在) as just the thing being there, so my understanding was "seemingly there but not really" rather than 存在しそうで存在しない. To put it another way, I was thinking it was saying they do exist, it's just a question of whether they're actually there in the room with you or around you or next to you.

 

[Toritoribe]

I was thinking いそうでいない wasn't so much about existence (存在) as just the thing being there, so my understanding was "seemingly there but not really" rather than 存在しそうで存在しない. To put it another way, I was thinking it was saying they do exist, it's just a question of whether they're actually there in the room with you or around you or next to you.

In that context, something like （この時間なら会社に）いそうなものなのに/いてもよさそうなものなのに/いてもおかしくないのに/いるはずなのに（いない） would be used. I think いそうでいない is used only for existence, as in 彼みたいな人は、いそうでなかなかいない.

～そうで～ない can be used also for other verbs/adjectives.

得点が入りそうで入らない。
数学の問題がわかりそうでわからない。
この料理は、一見高そうで実は高くない。

 

[nonezumi]

Toritoribeさん、

If possible may I try to translate. Unfortinately, I am still not sure about first sentence.

得点が入りそうで入らない。

It seems I hold the score, but in fact, i did not.

数学の問題がわかりそうでわからない。

It seems I understood mathematics problem, but in fact, I did not.

この料理は、一見高そうで実は高くない。

This cooking seems to be expensive at first glance, but in really it is not.

Thank you very much! :sorry:

 

[Glenn]

I see. So first and foremost いる means there some animate thing exists. That's the basic meaning, and you have to specify place and time for it to be more specific. Is that about right? And another one to add to your list: 読めそうで読めない漢字.

nonezumi, 得点が入りそうで入らない means "seems like we (they/I/you) would score but we don't." The others you've got.

 

[Elizabeth]

Toritoribeさん、
If possible may I try to translate. Unfortinately, I am still not sure about first sentence.
得点が入りそうで入らない。

You can sometimes translate ~そうで....ない。as "almost" or "nearly" but it depends on the situation obviously.

もう少しでゴール(得点)できたんだけど...etc.

 

[Toritoribe]

I see. So first and foremost いる means there some animate thing exists. That's the basic meaning, and you have to specify place and time for it to be more specific. Is that about right?

Yes, that's right. I think いそうでいない is almost a set phrase, so it would be hard to be used in another context.

You can sometimes translate ~そうで....ない。as "almost" or "nearly" but it depends on the situation obviously.

Yeah, できそうでできない often has that nuance.

 

[nonezumi]

Toritoribeさん、Elizabethさん、Glennさん、

Thank you very much for your kind help. :sorry:

Elizabethさん、

If possible, may I ask a little bit more. In the sentence below:


もう少しでゴールできたんだけど

Was んだ used for the verb nominalization or it is a form of ので, used to emphasize the meaning.

Thank you very much :sorry:

 

[Toritoribe]

The latter. It's the explanatory の.

 

[nonezumi]

Toritoribeさん、

Always thank you very much for your kind explanations. :sorry: