お話しますね / なかなかお天気で何よりです / 話してみます / によって

[eeky]

Hi,


1. This is at the end of an email:

また次のメールでお話しますね。

a) I thought this meant either "I'll tell you more in my next email" or "Please tell me more in your next email", but which? It is not obvious from the context.

b) お話します has to be おはなしします rather than おはなします, right?

c) Is お話 a conventional form without the full honorific connotations of お-?


2. This is from an email:

日本にいる間雨が降る事もなくて、なかなかお天気で何 よりです。

I could guess at "While I've been in Japan, it hasn't rained once, and we've had nothing but good weather", but really I don't understand the part after the comma. How does this work?


3. This is an email from Kiara's teacher to Kiara:

私は２週間後に家族と富士山に良い景色を見に行くつも りですが、キアラさんも私の家族と一緒に行きませんか ？良かったらじゅん君の家族に話してみます。

My translation: "In two weeks' time I'm planning to go to Mt Fuji with my family to see the sights. Would you like to come with us? If it's OK, I'll try talking to Jun's family.

a) In the last sentence, is the subject of 話してみます the writer?

b) I don't understand the connection between the sentences. It's possible that Jun is a friend of Kiara, but there doesn't seem to be any other context to explain why the writer would want to talk to Jun's family. Am I missing some implication in the text I quoted, or is it impossible to know the connection without further context?


4. 北斎も広重もヨーロッパの芸術家によって勉強され、模倣された程なんで す。

My translation: "北斎 and 広重 were both studied by European artists, and even imitated."

Although I translated it as "studied by European artists", I don't really understand why によって is used rather than just に. With によって, could it mean something more like "As a result of (the interest shown by) European artists, 北斎 and 広重 were both studied (generally, widely)"?

 

[Toritoribe]

1) a)
The former. The latter interpretation can't be possible.

b)
Right.

c)
I think that's a humble form of 話す (it's more common to write お話しします for the case, though).

2)
～で何よりだ/です means "It's good/nice ~".

3) a)
Yes.

b)
Isn't it 良かったらじゅん君の家族にも話してみます?

4)
I think によって is used to clarify the meaning "by", since に has so many functions.

 

[eeky]

Thank you!

1a) Which part(s) of this tell you that it must be the former interpretation?

3b) I checked again in the book but there is no も. Do you think the writer is maybe thinking of also inviting Jun?

 

[Toritoribe]

1) a)
お話（し）します can't mean "Please tell me".

3) b)
Yes, that's my interpretation.

 

[eeky]

1a) Is this a special property of お話します? Other ～ます forms can function like imperatives, right? Why not お話します?

 

[Toritoribe]

As I wrote, おはなしします is a humble expression, which is used only for an action of the speaker(or the person(s) in the speaker's inner-group). Thus, for instance, 食べます can mean "Would you have~?" with the rising intonation, but お食べします can't be used in that context. If you said お食べします with the rising intonation, it means someting like "May I eat it for you/instead of you?" Plus, ね is never used for that case, either.