あって / 受けいたしかねる / コーナー / その結果に従う

[eeky]

Hiya,

1. 最近エリザベスにちっともあってない。

Translation given: "I have not seen anything of Elizabeth lately."

Is あってない = 会っていない?


2. こういう事情ですから、残念ながら、せっかくのご招待 をお受けいたしかねるのです。

Translation given: "As such is the case, I am sorry I can't accept your kind invitation."

I'm having some uncertainty in parsing 受けいたしかねる. Is it possibly 受け + いたし (masu-stem of いたす) + かねる?


3. 雑誌の占いのコーナーを読んでいたら...

Does コーナー refer to a small feature that might typically be placed in the corner of the page of a magzaine?


4. Someone has claimed that fortune-telling is popular amongst Japanese people because they believe that some supernatural force is controlling their fate. The writer is arguing against this:

でも、たいていはその結果に従うとか真剣に信じるとかではなくて、ただそれを楽しん でいるだけだと思う。

My translation: "However, I think (the Japanese) usually do not act on their (i.e. fortune-tellers') predictions or seriously believe in them, but simply treat it as a bit of fun."

a) Does this seem correct? How best to translate 結果に従う in this context?

Next sentence:

珍しくて面白い占いが流行するのもそのせいではないだ ろうか。

My attempted translation: "Even though 'weird and wonderful' (types of) fortune-telling may be fashionable, I doubt that that (i.e. a belief in supernatural forces) is the reason."

b) Is this OK? I'm not very sure about the middle part. I parsed it as:

も = even though

流行するの = (these types of fortune telling) are fashionable (の = nominaliser)

ではない = it is not

そのせい = for this reason (i.e. not because of any belief in supernatural forces)

Is this the correct interpretation?

Next sentence:

目に見えない力と結び付けるのは考えすぎではないかと 彼に話してみた。

My translation: "I tried telling him (the person who made the claim) that he shouldn't think too much about linking (the popularity of fortune-telling) to (the idea of) some invisible force."

c) Does this seem OK? Is 考えすぎではないか telling the person he shouldn't think too much? Wondering if he is thinking too much? Some other slant?

 

[WaterFox]

Hiya,
1. 最近エリザベスにちっともあってない。
Translation given: "I have not seen anything of Elizabeth lately."
Is あってない = 会っていない?

Yes. That is correct.

 

[undrentide]

Hi eeky,

1. 最近エリザベスにちっともあってない。

Translation given: "I have not seen anything of Elizabeth lately."

Is あってない = 会っていない?

Yes.

2. こういう事情ですから、残念ながら、せっかくのご招待 をお受けいたしかねるのです。

Translation given: "As such is the case, I am sorry I can't accept your kind invitation."

I'm having some uncertainty in parsing 受けいたしかねる. Is it possibly 受け + いたし (masu-stem of いたす) + かねる?

Yes, your understanding is correct!

お受けいたしかねる

受ける＞お受けする
～できない＞～かねる

かねる【兼ねる】の意味 - 国語辞書 - goo辞書
４ 他の動詞の連用形に付いて用いる。
①…しようとして、できない。…することがむずかしい 。「納得し―・ねる」「何とも言い―・ねる」

3. 雑誌の占いのコーナーを読んでいたら...

Does コーナー refer to a small feature that might typically be placed in the corner of the page of a magzaine?

Yes, コーナー means a feature in magazines, papers or TV/radio programmes, not necessarily small, though.

4. Someone has claimed that fortune-telling is popular amongst Japanese people because they believe that some supernatural force is controlling their fate. The writer is arguing against this:

でも、たいていはその結果に従うとか真剣に信じるとかではなくて、ただそれを楽しん でいるだけだと思う。

My translation: "However, I think (the Japanese) usually do not act on their (i.e. fortune-tellers') predictions or seriously believe in them, but simply treat it as a bit of fun."

a) Does this seem correct? How best to translate 結果に従う in this context?

Yes.
占い in Japanese magazines often involves some small activities such as following yes/no diagrams, and readers eventually reach the "result"（結果） of 占い telling what their personality, what is awaiting in the (near) future, etc.

Next sentence:

珍しくて面白い占いが流行するのもそのせいではないだ ろうか。

My attempted translation: "Even though 'weird and wonderful' (types of) fortune-telling may be fashionable, I doubt that that (i.e. a belief in supernatural forces) is the reason."

b) Is this OK? I'm not very sure about the middle part. I parsed it as:

も = even though

流行するの = (these types of fortune telling) are fashionable (の = nominaliser)

ではない = it is not

そのせい = for this reason (i.e. not because of any belief in supernatural forces)

Is this the correct interpretation?

I'd simply say "I guess it is the reason that unusual and interesting fortune telling is popular".

～ではない（だろうか）か looks like a questioning, but actually is used with confidence/belief than doubt, expecting readers would agree.

も suggests there could be something else, but the implication is not so strong and you can replace it with は though it will give limitation to the subject.

Next sentence:

目に見えない力と結び付けるのは考えすぎではないかと 彼に話してみた。

My translation: "I tried telling him (the person who made the claim) that he shouldn't think too much about linking (the popularity of fortune-telling) to (the idea of) some invisible force."

c) Does this seem OK? Is 考えすぎではないか telling the person he shouldn't think too much? Wondering if he is thinking too much? Some other slant?

Here 考える（＜考えすぎる） is similar to "read" in English, I think.
While the person is claiming that there's link between the popularity of fortune-telling and "some invisible force", i.e. many people believe in fortune-telling and that means they believe in spirituality, the speaker is told him that the fortune-telling is popular simply because people enjoy it without taking it too seriously.

～てみる here is more like to do something to see the reaction.

 

[Glenn]

Did you mean "read too much into" for 考え過ぎ? "Read into" is one of those phrasal verbs.

 

[undrentide]

Did you mean "read too much into" for 考え過ぎ? "Read into" is one of those phrasal verbs.

Yes, that's what I meant.

 

[eeky]

Thank you both.

～ではない（だろうか）か looks like a questioning, but actually is used with confidence/belief than doubt, expecting readers would agree.

I get so confused by じゃない / ではない. Despite probably asking here before about specific cases, I still have no real idea how to tell whether it expresses a negative statement, a question, the speaker wondering about something, the speaker suggesting something, or what, except just by guessing from the context.

Are there any general guidelines? For starters, the biggest help, I guess, would be if I could tell the difference between a straight negative (like in ...真剣に信じるとかではなくて... in this post, for example) and non-negative cases.

 

[Toritoribe]

The most easy-to-understand cases are "i-adjective/verb + じゃない".
e.g.
占いは楽しいじゃない。
真剣に信じるじゃない。

These cases can't be a simple negative. When it's simple negative, it should be 楽しくない, 信じない, respectively. However, it's confusing but "i-adjective/verb + んじゃない" can be simple negative.

 

[eeky]

Thanks Toritoribe; I must try to remember this tip.