この十年間

[eeky]

Hi,

この十年間、魔法界が、二つの戦争の合間の、ほんのわずかな静けさを生きているにすぎないと印されていました。

Does この十年間 modify 生きている or 印されていました? How do you tell?

 

[Mike Cash]

Neither? The former if I had to choose.

It just means "for the last ten years"

 

[eeky]

I also read it as the former. However, the English original is "In the past decade, the indications have been that wizardkind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars", which corresponds to the latter. I understand that the difference in meaning is not very important, but I am curious whether the Japanese clearly indicates one interpretation or the other, or whether it is maybe ambiguous.

 

[Mike Cash]

I find the use of "in" to be odd, even if it is the original.

 

[Toritoribe]

Grammatically, the two interpretations are both possible.
I googled and found the previous sentence is;
我々が空を眺めるのは、そこに時折記されている、邪悪なものや変化の大きな潮流を見るためです。我々がいま見ているものが何であるかがはっきりするまでに、十年もの歳月を要することがあります.
From this, we can judge この十年間 modifies 印されていました as in the original.

Just out of curiosity, how about "It has been indicating that wizardkind only has been living in peace between two wars for the last ten years." in English, for instance? Is it clear whether "for the last ten years" modifies "has been indicating" or "has been living"?

 

[Mike Cash]

"Indications have been that..." would be the usual way of phrasing it.

I don't know about grammatically, but as a practical matter I think it could still apply to both.

Unless there is a difference between American English and British English I am overlooking, I still think that "in the past decade" should be "for the past decade".

 

[eeky]

Grammatically, the two interpretations are both possible.
I googled and found the previous sentence is;
我々が空を眺めるのは、そこに時折記されている、邪悪なものや変化の大きな潮流を見るためです。我々がいま見ているものが何であるかがはっきりするまでに、十年もの歳月を要することがあります.
From this, we can judge この十年間 modifies 印されていました as in the original.

I see, thanks.

Just out of curiosity, how about "It has been indicating that wizardkind only has been living in peace between two wars for the last ten years." in English, for instance? Is it clear whether "for the last ten years" modifies "has been indicating" or "has been living"?

I find that a bit hard to answer because the awkward positoning of "only" is too distracting. However, if "only" is ignored or removed then it could modify either.

Unless there is a difference between American English and British English I am overlooking, I still think that "in the past decade" should be "for the past decade".

Perhaps it is an American/British difference then, since I don't notice anything unusual about it.

 

[Toritoribe]

I find that a bit hard to answer because the awkward positoning of "only" is too distracting. However, if "only" is ignored or removed then it could modify either.

Yeah, that's my aim. As for the original Japanese sentence, the position of この十年間 is the key of the ambiguity. If the order of the words is 魔法界が、二つの戦争の合間の、ほんのわずかな静けさを生きているにすぎないとこの十年間印されていました。, it clearly shows that この十年間 modifies 印されていました.