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~み / 丸みを帯びている / 知られない / 衆寡敵せず

eeky

先輩
8 Jun 2010
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Hello,

1. This is part of an explanation of the use of ~み:

形容詞から作られるが、「~さ」と違って数は限られて いる。ほとんどは感覚的にとらえたものを表す。

My translation: "(~み) is used after adjectives, but compared to ~さ it has a more restricted use. It almost always expresses something that can be perceived with one of the senses."

I'm unsure about 数は限られている. Is it reasonable to translate as "has a more restricted use"?


2. 車のボディ全体が丸みを帯びている。

Is this saying that the car's body had a rounded shape (i.e. the body panels were rounded rather than angular)?


3. 相手に自分の弱みを知られないようにする。

I understand this to mean, more or less, "Make sure your opponent does not know your weaknesses."

Is 知られない the "indirect" passive, which expresses the idea that the speaker would suffer from the opponent's knowing?


4. 孤軍奮闘したけれど、衆寡敵せず、彼のビジネスプラン は受け入れられなかったよ。

Translation given: "He put up a brave and lone struggle, but up against such heavy odds he couldn't get his business plan accepted."

a) I can't make sense of 衆寡敵せず, which I assume must provide the meaning "up against such heavy odds". How does this phrase work?

b) Does the last part literally just mean "his business plan wasn't accepted", and the "he couldn't get" sense is just the translator's licence? I get confused with these seeming passive-potential combinations, especially when the Japanese verb form is the same for both.
 
1)
数は限られている is used as 数は多くはない here, so it's more likely "the number (of the adjectives) is limited/not so many".

2)
Yes.

3)
Yes, it's also known as "adversity passive".

4) a)
It's an idiom. 衆 means many (people) and 寡 is few. As in the dictionary linked below, it's 少数では多数にかなわない "The few are no match for the many."

http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/103285/m0u/衆寡/

b)
Right. It's the passive. This passive/potential thing seems indeed confusing for learners. Probably we, at least I, will get the meaning naturally/without thinking deeply. 😅
 
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