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Why do all the dictionary entries include "row" and "column" in the definition of 列 then? When is it used to mean "row"?I'm not sure how it's not "intuitive"?
行 are (horizontal) rows, 列 are (vertical) columns. The words are as distinct as the English ones, and they're not interchangeable.
The page in question seems to be a tutorial on how to perform operations with rows and columns, not an explanation of how to "remember the difference" between 行
and 列.
edited to add: I suppose there is one section explaining the difference, but I consider this the equivalent of a "for dummies" tutorial which explains every simple thing just for clarity's purpose. The average Japanese person would not be confused about the difference between 行 and 列.
Well again, if it were so unambiguous there wouldn't be so much need for explanations about it, would there?As a general rule, I don't really like to overanalyze the results of Jisho.org or any J-E dictionary that just lists a bunch of English definitions devoid of context.
You could have, just for one example, a bunch of people (or houses), trees, etc. lined up in a "row" and describe that as 列.
And, I mean, isn't it the same in English, too? The words "row" and "column" have a distinct meaning in the context of spreadsheet applications, (horizontal vs. vertical), but if you're just talking about a row of houses or whatever, that's not saying anything about horizontality/verticality.
It's the same in Japanese. Regardless of what you could describe as 行 or 列 in a real-world sense, the meanings in the context of a software application are completely distinct and unambiguous.
If I'm not mistaken, you're one of the ones here who claim that Japan and English often can't be mapped one-to-one.I just tend to push back against this idea that there's something uniquely vague, ambiguous, and exotic about the Japanese language.