Tackling て来る

Elizabeth said:

and that this thread has been to some help to Bucko.

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Yep, it's been a great help, and I'm glad others have got something out of it too

Actually, I have another question which I came across today, but my Japanese teacher couldn't explain it properly...

日本人の睡眠時間が減ってきていますが、その原因は何ですか。

So what's the purpose of ～てきている here? What's the difference between 減っています and 減ってきています?

減っています focuses more on the state of it being dimished, while 減ってきています focuses more on the process of it diminishing (sorry if that's strange English; I've been having problems with vocabulary lately). That's how I feel when I hear the two, but I really don't know how to render the difference in translation.

Bucko said:

Yep, it's been a great help, and I'm glad others have got something out of it too
Actually, I have another question which I came across today, but my Japanese teacher couldn't explain it properly...
日本人の睡眠時間が減ってきていますが、その原因は何ですか。
So what's the purpose of ～てきている here? What's the difference between 減っています and 減ってきています?

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I've noticed too that 減ってきた、減ってきている often carries a more dynamic and scary sounding English translation (fast disappearing...the coming decline...
sharp fall-off...losing more and more of something....) which gives the sense something has come or is coming that is unwelcome by the speaker. Whether that is a fair rendering of the original Japanese is another question...

Elizabeth said:

I've noticed too that 減ってきた、減ってきている often carries a more dynamic and scary sounding English translation (fast disappearing...the coming decline...
sharp fall-off...losing more and more of something....) which gives the sense something has come or is coming that is unwelcome by the speaker. Whether that is a fair rendering of the original Japanese is another question...

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I just did a search for 'てきている' on Jim Breen's example sentence function, and indeed, almost all the results came up with that sort of scary nuance.

お金が足りなくなってきている。 [T]
I am running short of money.

その騒音がますます大きくなってきている。 [T]
The noise is getting louder and louder.

この国は本当に落ちぶれてきている。 [T]
This country is really going to the dogs!

These sentences give the impression of something happening quite dramatically.

Thanks for everyone's input on this thread. I'll probably have to go over it a few more times just to let it all sink in!