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Guren no Yumiya

xellpan

後輩
19 Jun 2017
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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
 
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.
 
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
 
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 👍
 
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