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Textbook Article Translation Check: 日米挨拶言葉

ledojaeger

後輩
19 Jul 2015
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My attempt at translation of an article in my textbook. I'll break it into chunks. If anyone could verify my translations and tell me what I missed, that'd be appreciated. Original text in bold, my translation without.

1.「日米挨拶言葉」'Japanese and American Greeting Words'
日本人がアメリカ人によく聞かれて困る問題の一つに、"How are you?"は日本語でなんと言うか、というのがある。

One problem Japanese people have trouble with is is how to say the 'How are you?' they often are asked by Americans. (Had trouble with this, especially the ending 'to iu no ga aru'.

2. もちろん日本語にも「いかがですか」とか「お元気ですか」などという言葉はあるが、「いかがですか」は多分病気の人に言うのが普通だし、「お元気ですか」はしばらくぶりで会った人にしか言えない。つまり、毎日会う人に「いかがですか」とか「お元気ですか」と言うと、非常に変なわけである。日本人はその代わりに天気の話をすることが多いだろう。「いいお天気ですね」とか「寒いですね」とか、その日の天気によっていろいろ言えばよい。
Of course, Japanese has phrases like 'Ikaga desu ka?' and 'Ogenki desu ka?', but 'Ikaga desu ka?' is probably said to sick people normally, and 'ogenki desu ka?' can't be said to anyone but a person you've met for the first time in a while. In other words, if you say 'Ikaga desu ka?' or 'Ogenki desu ka?' to people you meet every day, it is to say that it's extremely strange. Japanese people instead talk about the weather a lot. 'Ii otenki desu ne' and 'samui desu ne', depending on that day's weather there are various things they should say.

3. "Have a nice day!"というのは日本語で何と言うか、と聞かれるのも困る。日本語にはそれに当たる言葉がないからである。人と別れる時には、相手が目上であれば「では失礼します」、友人であれば「じゃ、また」などと言うだけだろう。"Have a nice day!" を日本語に訳して使ったら大変おかしい。アメリカ人は、そういう説明を聞くと変な顔をするが、実は日本語にはあって英語にない挨拶言葉もたくさんあるのだ。
Being asked how to say 'Have a nice day!' in Japanese is also troubling. This is because Japanese does not have a phrase that corresponds to that. When people part ways and the other is of a higher status, 'De wa shitsurei shimasu', or if it's a friend, 'Ja, mata' is [probably?] all you say. If you translate and use 'Have a nice day!' into Japanese, it's very strange. If an American hears such an explanation they'd be perplexed, but the truth is that Japanese has lots of greetings as well that English doesn't have.

4. 例えば、食事の前の「いただきます」、食事の後の「ごちそうさまでした」がそのいい例だ。日本人が自分の家を出る時に言う「行ってきます」、それに対して家族の言う「行っていらっしゃい」、家へ帰ってきた人の言う「ただいま」、その時家族の言う「お帰りなさい」などという挨拶も英語にはない。日本人は、数日前に会った人にまた会うと、「先日はどうも」と挨拶することが多い。英語でも、"Thank you for the other day."とか "It was good to see you the other day."などと言えないことはないが、日本語の「先日はどうも」のような決まり文句にはなっていない。

For example, the 'itadakimasu' before food, or the 'gochisousama despite' after food are good examples of that. The 'ittekimasu' Japanese people say before leaving their house, the 'itte irasshai' in response to that from the family, the 'tadaima' said by a person who came home, and the 'okaerinasai' the family says at that time are greetings English doesn't have. Japanese people say 'senjitsu wa doumo' a lot when they meet someone again that they met several days ago. Even in English, 'Thank you for the other day' or 'It was good to see you the other day' occasionally can't be said, but a set phrase in Japanese like 'senjitsu wa doumo' is (?) (Had trouble with the final section)

5. 一般的に言って、決まり文句になった挨拶用語は、英語より日本語の方が多いだろう。人に何かあげる時、客に食事を出す時、自分の子供の先生に会った時、そのほかどういう時に何と言ったらよいかが決まっていて、それを覚えるのが、大事な社会教育だと言ってもよいだろう。

Generally speaking, Japanese probably has more greeting terms that became set phrases than English. When giving a person something, when serving a guest food, when meeting your child's teacher, and also what you should say in what sort of time is decided, and memorizing those things is, important social education. (Had no idea what to do with 'da to itte mo yoi darou)


よろしくお願いします。
 
1)
~の一つに、…というのがある。 is a structure for "There is a ... in/of ~."

日本人がアメリカ人によく聞かれて困る問題の一つ
One of the questions that Japanese people are often asked by Americans and have trouble with (answering)

3)
The nuance of 言うだけだろう is closer to 言えばいい; "It's OK to say~" or "What you should say is ~".

4)
食事 is more likely "meal" rather than 食べ物 "food".

英語の"Thank you for the other day."とか "It was good to see you the other day."は、日本語の「先日はどうも」のような決まり文句にはなっていない。 makes sense?

5)
言ってもよいだろう
It can be said ~ / There would be no problem to say~
 
can't be said to anyone but a person you've met for the first time in a while
Pedantic, but this sounds funny to me. "Can't be said to anyone except a person you haven't met for a while". Nitpicking, I know.

In other words, if you say 'Ikaga desu ka?' or 'Ogenki desu ka?' to people you meet every day, it is to say that it's extremely strange.
You are probably over translating the なわけである here, to the point that the English is sounding stilted, strange, and ungrammatical. OK if the direct translation is helping you make sense of the Japanese, but at some point it starts to impede progress, I think.

'gochisousama despite
Looks like auto-correct fixed your deshita. Another pedantic point.

Even in English, 'Thank you for the other day' or 'It was good to see you the other day' occasionally can't be said, but a set phrase in Japanese like 'senjitsu wa doumo' is
I think you've missed the double-negative, and it is causing the English sentence to become strange. Even in English, its not that you can't say things such as "Thank you for the other day", or "It was good to see you the other day". However, they aren't (haven't become) a set phrase like "Sen jitsu ha dōmo".

and also what you should say in what sort of time is decided, and memorizing those things is, important social education
In your English example, the concept that these phrases are pre-set, that they are fixed, has become obscured. The key is that the what and the when are fixed. In normal English conversation we would probably say "what you should say, and when you should say it, are fixed".

At some point you will want to stop worrying about direct translation of elements of Japanese that don't translate well into English (ということ、というわけ、etc...). Some students find it easier to mentally translate them into some sort of approximate English, but from what I can see your Japanese is good enough that its time to kick off those training wheels.
 
Thank you Toritoribe and Majestic. I've already written your helps in my notes.

英語の"Thank you for the other day."とか "It was good to see you the other day."は、日本語の「先日はどうも」のような決まり文句にはなっていない。 makes sense?
"English's 'thank you for the other day' or 'It was good to see you the other day' haven't become a set phrase like Japanese's 'Senjitsu wa doumo'. " - ?

Majestic,
Nitpicking is fine! In fact, I like it. It may make me more careful. I really like your approach and encouragement to stay away from awkward direct translations if I have it in my power to make it more natural instead. Also, I knew autocorrect would get me somewhere...

Yes, there are many things that don't translate well but still make sense to me after repeated use. I'm trying to come to a point with things, when I can, to think of words as they are and not always be worried about their translations. つまり、日本語だけで考えようとしています。例えば、「やっぱり」はただ「やっぱり」です。英語に訳さないで日本語の意味が分かるかどうか知りたいわけです。(That is, I mean to express, 'In other words, I'm trying to think only in Japanese. For example, 'yappari' is just 'yappari'. It means that I want to know whether or not I'll understand the Japanese meaning without translating it into English.')
 
"English's 'thank you for the other day' or 'It was good to see you the other day' haven't become a set phrase like Japanese's 'Senjitsu wa doumo'. " - ?
Yes, as Majestic-san translated, these English expressions haven't become a set phrase like the Japanese ones.
 
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