そっちのこと / そこだけ / 怒る

[eeky]

Hi,


1.
「怖くなったのか？」マルフォイは、ロックハートに聞こえないように低い声で言った。
「そっちのことだろう」ハリーも唇を動かさずに言った。

How does the expression そっちのことだろう work? I realise it's そっち・の・こと・だろう, of course, but I don't understand very well what meaning that has.


2. 周りの生徒は悲鳴をあげ、さーっと後ずさりして、そこだけが広くあいた。

What does そこだけ mean?


3. In the sense of 怒る meaning "to get angry", are the pronunciations おこる and いかる interchangeable? If so, is either one more usual?

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
怖くなったというのはそっちのことだろう
The one who has become afraid is you.

2)
そこ refers to the place 周りの生徒 was at and/or the place in the topic (where something happened, which must be mentioned previously).

3)
いかる is not incorrect, but is rarely used. The reading いか is basically only for a noun 怒り, not a verb.

[補説]本来、「角立つ」のをいう語。感情が角立てば、腹を立てる意にもなる。この意には、現在「おこる」が用いられるが、これは「起こる」と同源で、勢いが盛んになる意から、気持ちの高ぶるのをいうようになったものらしい。

いかる【怒る】の意味 - 国語辞書 - goo辞書

The following explanation about the difference between いかる and おこる says that いかる is used for "abstract anger", but I think 怒りを覚える is more commonly used for the case.

抽象的ないかりの場合は「政界汚職にいかる」のように用い、「おこる」はふつう使わない。また、「いかる」は文章語的でもある。

おこる【怒る】の意味 - 国語辞書 - goo辞書

 

[eeky]

Thanks Toritoribe,

I still don't fully understand (2) I'm afraid. The students are in a great hall. They are gathered around watching two people duelling. Something frightening has happened in the duel. The students all move back in shock. Does 広くあいた refer to the space for the duellists opening up as the spectators move back? But what is the purpose of だけ?

 

[Toritoribe]

The hall is crowded except the space for the duellists. / There is no large empty space in the hall except there.

 

[eeky]

Thanks ... it seems odd to me. It seems an odd thing to say in the context. Hum.

 

[Toritoribe]

It expresses how scared the happening is / how much other students are scared of it, isn't it?

 

[eeky]

If そこ ... が広くあいた is basically saying that the space opened up around the duellists as the spectators backed away, then I can understand that OK. It's the insertion of the word だけ that seems odd. I can't think of any way to incorporate the word "only" (or equivalent) into an English translation so that it would sound normal in the context.

 

[Toritoribe]

そこが広くあいた just describes a fact that a large space appears, whereas だけ gives a nuance that all the people in the hall are focusing on the happening, JIMO.

 

[eeky]

I see, thanks.