Guren no Yumiya

xellpan · 19 Jun 2017

こんにちわみんなさん！
I have a question concerning the title of a song.
This song is called 紅蓮の弓矢 (guren no yumiya).
Anime Lyrics dot Com - Guren no Yumiya - The Crimson Bow and Arrow - Shingeki no Kyojin; Attack on Titan - Anime

My question concerns the の particle.
According to the translation, 紅蓮 means "crimson", hence, it is a な-adjective.
However, instead of saying 紅蓮(な)弓矢, the title is 紅蓮の弓矢, suggesting that 紅蓮 is considered as a noun.

Could somebody please explain me why?

どうもありがとうございます！
xellpan

joadbres · 20 Jun 2017

xellpan said:
According to the translation, 紅蓮 means "crimson", hence, it is a な-adjective.

Your logic here is faulty, and your assumption is incorrect.
Except for a handful of the most common colors (red, blue, yellow, black, white), most colors in Japanese are regular nouns, not na-adjectives. To use them in an adjectival form, where they are placed prior to the objects they modify, you must connect them using no, not na.

xellpan · 20 Jun 2017

Many thanks for your answer!

Toritoribe · 21 Jun 2017

You can check the part of speech of the word in the dictionary.

紅蓮 Noun
紅蓮 - Jisho.org

きれい Na-adjective
きれい - Jisho.org

白い I-adjective
白い - Jisho.org

There are only 6 exceptions in colors in Japanese. 茶色 Brawn is also an i-adjective besides the 5 colors mentioned above. See the following thread.
Conjugating colours | Japan Forum

Incidentally, の can be attached also to these 6 colors depending on the meaning. Refer to the following thread.
くろしつじ and きいろのなな - Adjective problem! | Japan Forum
Proper Usages of あおい | Japan Forum

xellpan · 21 Jun 2017

どうもありがとうございますとりとりべさん！
Your answer is very complete and help me to understand even further
I appreciate the time you took to reply to my question

Guren no Yumiya

xellpan

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joadbres

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xellpan

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xellpan

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