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向かって / 長く / と言ってよい / 少なく / と / ので

eeky

先輩
8 Jun 2010
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Hiya,

1. その子は歩いている父親に向かって手を振りました。

Translation given: "The child waved to [his] approaching father."

I'm not sure what has happened to 向かって in the translation. I thought the subject of 向かって was the child, so I translated it as "The child turned and waved ...". Is this correct?


2. 本州は南北に長く、日本最大の島である。

Does this simply mean "Honshu is long from north to south, and is Japan's largest island"?

Would it be correct to write 長くて instead of 長く? Would the meaning change?


3. 東京、大阪、京都、横浜、神戸その他、国際的によく知 られた大都市は、ほとんど本州にあると言ってよい。

My translation: "(Japan's) large and internationally well-known cities, such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto , Yokohama and Kobe, are mostly in/on Honshu."

What does と言ってよい add? Does it mean something like "It's true to say that Japan's large and internationally well-known cities..."?


4. 京都は第二次世界大戦の被害も少なく、昔のままのお寺 や神社が何百、何千とあり、一日や二日では、とても見 切れない。

My translation: "Even though Kyoto suffered a little damage in World War II, there are still hundreds, even thousands, of well-preserved temples and shrines, and it's impossible to see them all in one or two days."

Is my emphasis of 少なく right -- i.e. emphasising that it suffered a little damage, rather than little damage?

I'm unclear about とあり. In what sense is と used? Could we use が instead?


5. Customer: あ、じゃ、予約をしてもらえますか。
Travel agent: はい、では早速ご予約を入れておきますので。

My translation:

Customer: Right, is it possible for me to make a reservation?
Travel agent: Yes, I'll make one straight away.

What sense does ので add? Does it add the sense that "Yes, I'll make one straight away, and so therefore it will be possible"?
 
1. その子は歩いている父親に向かって手を振りました。
Translation given: "The child waved to [his] approaching father."
I'm not sure what has happened to 向かって in the translation. I thought the subject of 向かって was the child, so I translated it as "The child turned and waved ...". Is this correct?
~に向かって acts like a particle meaning "toward".

The child waved to his father who was walking.

2. 本州は南北に長く、日本最大の島である。
Does this simply mean "Honshu is long from north to south, and is Japan's largest island"?
Would it be correct to write 長くて instead of 長く? Would the meaning change?
The meaning is the same. The -te form sounds more colloquial.

3. 東京、大阪、京都、横浜、神戸その他、国際的によく知られた大都市は、ほとんど本州にあると言ってよい。
My translation: "(Japan's) large and internationally well-known cities, such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama and Kobe, are mostly in/on Honshu."
What does と言ってよい add? Does it mean something like "It's true to say that Japan's large and internationally well-known cities..."?
Litelally, "It's OK to say that/It can be said that~".

4. 京都は第二次世界大戦の被害も少なく、昔のままのお寺や神社が何百、何千とあり、一日や二日では、とても見切れない。
My translation: "Even though Kyoto suffered a little damage in World War II, there are still hundreds, even thousands, of well-preserved temples and shrines, and it's impossible to see them all in one or two days."
Is my emphasis of 少なく right -- i.e. emphasising that it suffered a little damage, rather than little damage?
Hmm, I would translate "Since Kyoto suffered little damage..."

I'm unclear about とあり. In what sense is と used?
と expresses the content of ある.

[4] 動作・作用・状態の内容を表す。

開催地は東京―決まった

出かけよう―したら雨になった

インフレは必至―考えられる

師―仰ぐ人



Could we use が instead?
No. も can be used here.

5. Customer: あ、じゃ、予約をしてもらえますか。
Travel agent: はい、では早速ご予約を入れておきますので。
My translation:
Customer: Right, is it possible for me to make a reservation?
Travel agent: Yes, I'll make one straight away.
What sense does ので add? Does it add the sense that "Yes, I'll make one straight away, and so therefore it will be possible"?
It's the omittion of the following phrase/clause, something like ご安心ください or "you can put your mind at ease". ので at the sentence end often connotes this kind of meaning, especially when used in these business scenes.
 
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~に向かって acts like a particle meaning "toward".
The child waved to his father who was walking.
Thanks Toritoribe. Does this "toward" describe the way in which the child waved? In other words, the child waved towards his father (which you've translated just as "to his father")?
Hmm, I would translate "Since Kyoto suffered little damage..."
One of the reasons I thought it meant "a little damage" is because I thought も had the sense of "even" (i.e. even though there was a little damage, the temples and shrines are still "昔のまま"). This wouldn't make sense with "little damage", so I guess も must have some other sense?
No. も can be used here.
Isn't がある / あります used to state that something exists? Here we are saying that lots of temples exist, so why does が not work? Is it something to do with conflicting with the earlier が (which also confuses me a little)?
 
Does this "toward" describe the way in which the child waved? In other words, the child waved towards his father (which you've translated just as "to his father")?
Exactly.:)

One of the reasons I thought it meant "a little damage" is because I thought も had the sense of "even" (i.e. even though there was a little damage, the temples and shrines are still "昔のまま"). This wouldn't make sense with "little damage", so I guess も must have some other sense?
I think this も is used as "too/also", although the sense of it is subtle. At least, the example sentence doesn't mean "some temples/shrines were damaged, but there are still hundreds/thousands".

Isn't がある / あります used to state that something exists? Here we are saying that lots of temples exist, so why does が not work? Is it something to do with conflicting with the earlier が (which also confuses me a little)?
Yeah, grammatically, the subject of the sentence is お寺や神社, and 何百、何千 expresses the "state" of the temples and shrines, how existing the temples and shrines are. ("Numbers" would be improper to "how", though.)
 
Yeah, grammatically, the subject of the sentence is お寺や神社, and 何百、何千 expresses the "state" of the temples and shrines, how existing the temples and shrines are. ("Numbers" would be improper to "how", though.)
Does it make sense, then, to consider the core of this clause as being お寺や神社があり, and 何百、何千と as providing further information?
 
Does it make sense, then, to consider the core of this clause as being お寺や神社があり, and 何百、何千と as providing further information?
Yes. It can be considered as an adverbial usage.

One of the reasons I thought it meant "a little damage" is because I thought も had the sense of "even" (i.e. even though there was a little damage, the temples and shrines are still "昔のまま"). This wouldn't make sense with "little damage", so I guess も must have some other sense?
In addition to my previous post, one of the reasons why も is used here would be that both は and が unnecessarily emphasizes the meaning. 第二次世界大戦の被害少なく suggests the existence of another factor that caused damage on the city as a contrasitive marker, and 第二次世界大戦の被害少なく shows that little damage in World War II is the main reason of 昔のまま. On the other hand, も connotes that "Kyoto suffered little damage in World War II" is one of many other reasons why "there are still hundreds/thousands of well-preserved temples/shrines".
 
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