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Phrase in よつばと

thesuker

先輩
20 May 2014
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Hi, I've just started reading よつばと and I can't figure out a sentence that she says.

と-ちやん、ここ家かいつばいあるな

I understand ここ家 and あるな but I've no idea what かいつばい means (maybe it's かいっばい?, the manga's font makes it difficult to know) . Any ideas on it's meaning?

Also, と-ちやん... I'm guessing it's an informal way for よつばと to refer to her father (I'm guessing from context and と=お父さん)? Or maybe it's と-ちゃん?
 
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Sure it's not ここ 家がいっぱいあるな ?
Mentally insert a comma after ここ

As for とーちゃん, correct. The dash is the same as used in katakana words to lengthen vowels.
 
Ok, now I get it. It makes her sound a bit like a country bumpkin though.

In reply the father says お店(みせ)もあるぞ。Why does he use the formal お in front?
 
お isn't exactly what you would call "formal" so much as "refined".

Adults the world over model speech for children. And some very common words get used with お/ご so much that it just seems a natural part of the word. お店 is among them. (I assume it wouldn't even cross your mind to ask the same question if the word had been ごはん).

It is entirely possible the comic used a regular sized つ and や. That used to be the standard way, as the small ones are a relatively recent development. Possibly they used old style kana to make them look more like bumpkins.

Or maybe it is just hard to tell, as you say. That is usually the case. Without seeing it I really couldn't say for sure.
 
Yes, that was a poor choice of words on my behalf, refined would be more correct. I knew about お, didn't know ご served the same purpose. Thanks a lot for both replies :)
 
Yes, that was a poor choice of words on my behalf, refined would be more correct. I knew about お, didn't know ご served the same purpose. Thanks a lot for both replies :)

Typically, お is used with 大和言葉 (i.e. kun-yomi words) while ご is used with on-yomi words. In kanji, they're identical: 御

御水 omizu
御飯 gohan

It is VERY common to see this bit rendered in kana these days.

お水
ご飯

....especially as it is otherwise impossible to tell if 御飯 is ごはん or おめし
 
Thanks for the explanation, i'll keep it very in mind. By the way, here's a sample of what I'm reading:

ayYZp7L.jpg
 
Those are small tsu and ya.

You can't see the two dots on the が?
 
The dots on the が I can now, but before posting I didn't notice them. Same with the ぱ, I actually thought it was ば. The っ and ゃ I can't. Maybe I see now that they're a bit smaller than the rest, but I expected them to be much smaller. I guess I'm just not used to it.
 
The dots on the が I can now, but before posting I didn't notice them. Same with the ぱ, I actually thought it was ば. The っ and ゃ I can't. Maybe I see now that they're a bit smaller than the rest, but I expected them to be much smaller. I guess I'm just not used to it.

That's the largest part of it. Note that they are ever so slightly offset to the right of the other characters.
 
Thanks for the tip Mike-san. I have to say, reading and understanding that page of Japanese manga in original version has meant the world to me :D
 
One last question about that page, is そ-だろ- similar to そうですね, but said in an informal manner?
 
One last question about that page, is そ-だろ- similar to そうですね, but said in an informal manner?

Not exactly. To put them in the same style:

そうだろう
そうだね

そうでしょう
そうですね
 
Ok, I think I get it. そうだろう is a softer, more polite way of saying そうだね. A bit like It certainly seems so/It is, isn't it? Thanks a lot for the help :D
 
Ok, I think I get it. そうだろう is a softer, more polite way of saying そうだね. A bit like It certainly seems so/It is, isn't it? Thanks a lot for the help :D

Nooooo.......that's not quite it.
 
After a bit more research I realized it's probably more a case of certainty than a case of politeness.

そうです is used when you want to indicate certainty in something.
そうでしょう is used when you want to indicate a lesser degree of certainty: that something might be the case, rather than stating that it is so.
 
The explanation you read is for the presumptive usage of そうでしょう. It also can mean "Don't you think so?", "I know.", "I believe you say that."etc. etc. depending on the context.
 
Context... thou heartless ***** :(

I more or less get the gist of what he's saying from the context, so it's ok.
 
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