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心あたたまる燈火の光

healer

Sempai
13 May 2019
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伯母が玄関の戸を叩くと、叔父が開けてくれた。心あたたまる燈火の光が流れ出てきた。

心あたたまる燈火の光 has been translated as "a friendly light". I guess literally it means "heart-warming light".

暖まる is an intransitive verb according to a dictionary. Shouldn't a transitive verb like 温める be used? I'm thinking of 心を暖め灯火の光 or something along the line.

Please point out what I could have got wrong! Thanks.
 
Thanks Toritoribe-san!

I hope you don't mind I ask a bit more about the given sentence.

Should the sentence have the kanji's 伯母and 伯父or 叔母and 叔父rather than 伯母and 叔父if they're in the same family or husband and wife? Perhaps they're equally interchangeable in Japanese language. Please comment!

I'm wondering why くれたis used in 叔父が開けてくれた. I remember if I'm right even when talking about my father giving something to my sister あげるis to be used.
 
healer said:
I remember if I'm right even when talking about my father giving something to my sister あげるis to be used.
As usual, this is not so strict and absolute a rule as you seem to be perceiving it.

The difference in nuance between くれる and あげる depends entirely on whether the speaker is empathizing more with the giver or the recipient. In a case like this where both the father and the sister are part of the speaker's family or in-group, it depends entirely on whether, the way this situation is being framed, whether or not the speaker perceives themselves as being "closer" to the father or the sister in the context as given.
 
Should the sentence have the kanji's 伯母and 伯父or 叔母and 叔父rather than 伯母and 叔父if they're in the same family or husband and wife? Perhaps they're equally interchangeable in Japanese language.
伯母 and 伯父 refer to older sister and brother of one's parent, respectively, while 叔母 and 叔父 are for parent's younger sister and brother. Thus, they are not interchangeable.

The two people in the story are not wife and husband. They are actually sister and brother. 伯母's husband is 伯父 whether he is younger or older than the parent. The same goes with 伯父's wife, 叔母's husband and 叔父's wife.

I'm wondering why くれたis used in 叔父が開けてくれた. I remember if I'm right even when talking about my father giving something to my sister あげるis to be used.
Another interpretation is that the speaker is also outside of the room with his/her aunt, and he/she saw the light.
 
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