A few short translation questions

[Soren]

Here are a few little extracts from something I was reading (or trying to) today, with some questions....

Thank you anyone who answers

（The kanji usage seems really strange to me....no kanji for some really simple verbs that I haven't seen in hiragana before (not outside of basic textbooks anyway))

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"日本の新聞は１8６０年ころからはじまっていますが、そのころの新聞をみると、漢字がすくなく、かな文字でかかれていたことがわかります。"

Questions:

じまっています - I suppose this comes from a verb じまう/じまる/じまつ.... couldn't find these on WWWJDIC though......does anybody know?

みると - when do you use plain form + と? What does this construction mean? Is it just an unemphatic "we look in newspapers of that time, _and_...."? I just haven't seen と used to connect verbal clauses before...only noun phrases.

How would it be best to translate the last clause - particularly がわかります in this context? Is this anywhere close: "(and) find/notice that there are few kanji, with things written in kana (instead)"?

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"その理由のひとつは、。。。。" (immediately follows the first extract)
Would I be right to translate this as "one of the reasons for that....."

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なによりも日本人のおおくがむずかしい漢字を読めなかったからです。

Would I be correct to translate なによりも as "(and) above all" in this context? ("And above all, because the majority of Japanese couldn't read difficult kanji"?)

thanks,

 

[PaulTB]

"日本の新聞は１8６０年ころからはじまっていますが、そのころの新聞をみると、漢字がすくなく、かな文字でかかれていたことがわかります。"

Questions:

じまっています - I suppose this comes from a verb じまう/じまる/じまつ.... couldn't find these on WWWJDIC though......does anybody know?

If you're reading stuff like that you really should know this.

The verb is はじまる.

みると - when do you use plain form + と? What does this construction mean? Is it just an unemphatic "we look in newspapers of that time, _and_...."? I just haven't seen と used to connect verbal clauses before...only noun phrases.

This use of と should be covered in the first text book or so of most series. It _isn't_ 'and' it's (in this case) 'when' (and in other cases 'if').

Apart from those two you seem to be OK.

 

[Soren]

If you're reading stuff like that you really should know this.

The verb is はじまる.

You're right...that is just me being stupid. I read は as the topic marker. If 始 had been used would have been ok......

This use of と should be covered in the first text book or so of most series. It _isn't_ 'and' it's (in this case) 'when' (and in other cases 'if').

Apart from those two you seem to be OK.

Ah! Yes...you are right...I have learnt tht ages back as well. This is just the first time I've actually seen it used.

Thank you. Quite embarrasing not spotting these....

So is this OK for a loose translation of the first passage:

"Newspapers in Japan were beginning around 1860, but if we look at newspapers from that period, we find that there are few kanji, kana characters being written instead."