Getting a Fix, Japanese-Style
Friday, August 3rd, 2007
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When a Japanese friend emailed me that he likes to stay up all night, it blew me away on two accounts. First, I can’t imagine wanting to stay up till dawn. I did plenty of that in college, and I’m not eager to revisit the experience. Second, look how he said “throughout the night”:
夜中中 (yonakajū)
Two instances of 中 in a row, each with different readings! Let’s break this down to see what’s going on here:
夜 (YA, yo, yoru) means “night.”
中 (CHŪ, naka) means “in, inside, middle.”
Yonaka combines two kun-yomi (yo and naka) to mean “deep in the night.” (When read as yonaka, 夜中 also means “midnight, but let’s set that aside.)
In 夜中中, the final 中 is a suffix meaning “throughout.” Two notable things about this suffix:
1. It makes the whole compound mean “all night.”
2. As a suffix, 中 has two possible yomi: -CHŪ and -JŪ. In yonakajū, clearly the latter applies.
In any case, I can’t think of another compound in which a suffix creates back-to-back instances of the same kanji. Can you?!
Of course, we see repetition in many expressions, including 中中, alternatively written as 中々 or なかなか. All these iterations say nakanaka and mean “very” (among other definitions). And although such words are great in their own right, they’re a far cry from 夜中中.
Needing a “Fix”
In a recent blog, we saw how the suffix 後 yields the compact expression 食後 (shokugo: after a meal) in place of the wordier equivalent: 食事の後で (shokuji no ato de). I’m convinced that using and recognizing more suffixes and prefixes (collectively called affixes) can improve one’s Japanese by leaps and bounds.
On Japanese Terms
for These “Fixes” …
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Fun Fact In Decoding Kanji, Yaeko Habein writes that of the 1,945 Jōyō kanji (that is, the most commonly used characters), 370 appear solely in compounds, never alone. About 170 more appear by themselves only on rare occasions. Almost all these hangers-on function as affixes. |
When it comes to affixes, a “relatively small investment of time can yield surprisingly large dividends” in terms of comprehension, says author Timothy J. Vance in Building Word Power in Japanese: Using Kanji Prefixes and Suffixes. His book provides detailed information about various affixes, as well as copious example sentences.
But you can also find some of that knowledge here! In future blogs, I hope to focus on certain affixes. Not the whole time, though, because then we’d miss other fascinating ways in which characters behave. For instance, check out these cool compounds:
中庭 (nakaniwa: courtyard) inside + garden
A courtyard is a garden tucked inside a house or between buildings.
中二階 (chūnikai: mezzanine) middle + two + story
A mezzanine is a partial story between two main floors. This breakdown brings to mind the great sight gag in Being John Malkovich, in which people had no end of trouble as they walked down the corridor of Floor 7½, a severely truncated level wedged between Floors 7 and 8.
空中線 (kūchūsen: antenna) air + in + line
An antenna is a line in the air. Nowadays, Japanese people just say アンテナ (antena). Too bad. I much prefer the older term.
Kinetic Kanji
The yomi and meaning of a character can change when it’s serving as an affix versus when it’s “off duty.” In the latter case, the kanji still contributes something vital to the compound, but it doesn’t have the specialized meaning that it has when functioning as an affix. Compare the columns in this table, for example:
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Is the Kanji Serving as an Affix or Not? |
|||
|
Yes |
No |
||
| 両- (RYŌ-: prefix meaning both) | 両 (RYŌ-: vehicle) | ||
| 両方 (ryōhō: both) |
車両 (sharyō: vehicle) | ||
| 両家 (ryōke: both families) | |||
| 全- (ZEN-: prefix meaning all) | 全 (ZEN: complete, perfect, intact) |
||
| 全部 (zenbu: all) | 安全 (anzen: safety) | ||
| 全員 (zen’in: all members) | 万全 (banzen: perfect, infallible, absolutely secure) |
-家 (-KA: suffix meaning member of profession) |
家 (KA, KE, ie: house, home) |
| 作家 (sakka: writer) | 家庭 (katei: home, family) | ||
| 専門家 (senmonka: specialist) | |||
| -化 (-KA: suffix meaning -ization) |
化 (KA, KE, ba(keru): to change) | ||
| 専門化 (senmonka: specialization) | 化石 (kaseki: fossil) | ||
| 車両化 (sharyōka: motorization, motorized) |
化生 (kasei: metamorphosis) | ||
| 安定化 (anteika: stabilization) | |||
For Breakdowns of Kanji in the Table …
Did you notice how 専門 changed with the addition of -家 versus -化? And how about what -化 did to 車両 in 車両化? Did you recognize the 庭 of 中庭 (which we saw above as nakaniwa: courtyard) when it resurfaced in 家庭 with the new yomi TEI? There’s so much kinetic energy—so much life!—tucked into this relatively short list! I could stare at it for ages, watching meanings and yomi shift kaleidoscopically.
In fact, there’s so much going on here that we might as well wait till next week to return to the suffix that sparked this whole discussion: 中. It’s summertime, and we’ve worked hard enough! For now, let’s just relax with a Verbal Logic Quiz that will ease us back into thoughts about 中.
Posted by Eve Kushner in Kanji Curiosity |
August 4th, 2007 at 1:45 am
Something wonderful has happened! I was listening to Newbie lesson #18, and for the first time, I understood the entire conversation before hearing the translation! I was so excited I had to tell everyone!
I know this comment has nothing to do with the post above, and I want to apologize for that. I just wanted to share my good news.
August 4th, 2007 at 2:45 am
Good job, Dave!
August 5th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Dave, that’s a fantastic feeling, indeed.
And it’s really nice you decided to share it with us. Thanks!!
About the post, I have one question… in that case, when using two same kanjis in a row in the word 夜中中, shouldn’t we be using the kanji for repetition “々”, or this is not the case because those kanjis represent two completely different sounds (訓読み、音読み)?
どうも有り難うございます！
August 5th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Right–we don’t use 々 when the kanji have completely different sounds. I think the way you explained it is perfect!
Since there may not be another word that contains repeating kanji in the way that 夜中中 does, this may be a moot issue!
Thanks for the good question!
August 6th, 2007 at 5:11 am
A further thought on your question, João:
In rōmaji, when we have repeating vowels, we usually use a macron
(e.g., in the word rōmaji!). But take a word such as 海員 (kaiin: sailor).
The KAI comes from the 海, and the IN comes from the 員. So although
we would seem to have repeating instances of the letter I, it would be wrong to
represent this word as kaīn. The two Is pertain to different things.
I think this is similar to why we don’t use 々 with 夜中中. It’s not a perfect analogy, but I think it’s somewhat relevant. Hope so, anyway!
August 6th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Eve,
Thank you very much for your answers and for your e-mail too.
I intended to check back the blog, I just didn’t imagine the answer would come so fast!!
It was indeed very useful, both rōmaji and kanji information. I just don’t know how to type the above “-” on the vowels. Actually, to write “rōmaji” I basically just copied and pasted the word here.
Again, thank you for all the valuable information you’ve been bringing us!!
August 6th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Hi again, João.
You’re most welcome for everything! Glad the info. was useful.
Copy-paste works like a charm. How do you think I reproduced “João”?!
I only recently learned how to type macrons. I found out from brilliant Matt, who writes the blog No-Sword (http://no-sword.jp/blog). For some reason I like plugging his blog (and mentioning his brilliance)!
Anyway, if you have a Mac, you’ll find macrons available somewhere in the vast oceans of the character palette. After locating them, I copied them into a Word file, and now I always copy them from there. But hey, if I type them here, you can just copy from this comment, and won’t need to go foraging in the wilds of the character palette (which you may not even have). Here you go (not that you asked, exactly, but it never hurts to have a macron on hand):
ā ē ī ō ū Ā Ē Ī Ō Ū
Enjoy!
August 9th, 2007 at 7:57 am
Hillsboro, OR
Hello, Eve:
My “kanji friend,” Mary Sisk Noguchi (www.kanjiclinic.com), informed me an hour ago, by phone, that you had a kanji blog. Congratulations on having a nice kanji blog! I am enjoying my first visit to your blog.
I am a kanji aficionado myself. Your piece on 夜中中 (yonakajuu) helped activate my memory in this relatively obscure area of kanji knowledge — to wit, that of words in Japanese in which a particular kanji replicates within a single word, but with different pronunciations for the same kanji. (In other words, 時々,
中々, 方々, 所々, 人々etc. do NOT count.)
I would like to familiarize you and other kanji aficionados with a certain castle, or the remains of a certain castle, in Okinawa Prefecture known as 中城城.
If my intermediate school math serves me well, the theoretical number of different pronunciations of this place name is eighteen. (I guess I should mention that in Okinawan placenames, 城 can be pronounced “gusuku,” as well as the “normal” “Naichi (four main islands of Japan) pronunciations,” “shiro” and “jou.” This little change, of adding “gusuku” as an Okinawan-type reading for 城, gives us 18 “theoretically possible” pronunciations of 中城城.) Please decide what the location is actually called — in other words, please decide how this combination of three kanji is actually read. Here are the 18 possible readings I have come up with for 中城城:
1) Chuushiroshiro
2) Chuushirojou
3) Chuushirogusuku
4) Chuujoushiro
5) Chuujoujou
6) Chuujougusuku
7) Chuugusukushiro
8 ) Chuugusukujou
9) Chuugusukugusuku
and
10) Nakashiroshiro
11) Nakashirojou
12) Nakashirogusuku
13) Nakajoushiro
14) Nakajoujou
15) Nakajougusuku
16) Nakagusukushiro
17) Nakagusukujou
18 ) Nakagusukugusuku
Well, kanji wingnuts, the correct pronunciation of 中城城 is
Nakagusukujou. Ah, kanji! Ah, Okinawa!
With apologies to any native speakers of Japanese who wish to take fault with my, admittedly gaijin, reasoning,
Laurence Wiig
Kanji Instructor
Portland Community College
Lw@cre8communic8.com
August 9th, 2007 at 8:30 am
How exciting this is!!! Laurence Wiig is to the kanji world what John Lennon and Kurt Cobain are the rock world. And Wiig has not only graced this blog with his presence but also risen to the challenge of finding another compound as unorthodox as 夜中中 (all while indulging in the same kind of hypothetical/imaginary thinking that I adore). The answer lies in an Okinawan castle, no less. How wonderfully fringe … or is that too naichi-centric a view? Great word to introduce, by the way: 内地 (inside + land, or literally inland) … unless he meant 無い乳 (naichi: very small breasts) … No, I’m sure I was right the first time!
By the way, one thing implied but not explicitly stated: 城 means “castle.”
Good job on the math and on keeping all those possibilities straight!
Thanks again for the visit and the great contribution!
August 9th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Eve:
What a charming reply to my humble submission. I am embarrassed to be compared to the likes of John Lennon and Kurt Cobain. (Actually, if you must compare me to anybody, I would prefer to be compared to people whose lives ended more pleasantly than the abovementioned stars.) In my opinion, I would suggest the following candidates for serious gaijin Kanji gurus:
1) Jim Heisig (of REMEMBERING THE KANJI fame, University of Hawai’i Press)
2) the late Father Joseph R. De Roo (now residing in Kanji heaven)
3) the late Dr. Andrew Nathaniel Nelson (THE MODERN READER’S JAPANESE-ENGLISH CHARACTER DICTIONARY) (I bet he has had some terrific discussions with Father De Roo.)
4) Mary Sisk Noguchi (please see Sisk Noguchi’s 86-plus “Kanji Clinic” columns at www.kanjiclinic.com)
5) Jack Halpern (originator of the brilliant “SKIP” [System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns] technique for looking up characters in Kanji dictionaries — See THE KODANSHA KANJI LEARNER’S DICTIONARY)
6) Drs. John DeFrancis, Bart Mathias and Dave Ashworth, my former professors at the University of Hawaii — Kanji gurus all!
Oh, my goodness, Eve! I neglected to mention two TRULY INSPIRATIONAL GAIJIN KANJI HEAVYWEIGHTS:
Mark Spahn and
Wolfgang Hadamitzky!!!
And there are many others.
Anyhow, I hope you understand how embarrassed I am to have my name listed way up in the upper reaches of Kanji Brahmindom. All I hold, academe-wise, is a Professional Diploma to teach Japanese at the secondary level and an M.A. from a Japanese university — where I wrote my thesis IN ENGLISH. In fact, I still can hardly make my way from beginning to end of an article in the ASAHI SHIMBUN without recourse to Jack Halpern or Mark Spahn.
If you must compare my Kanji ability (for a gaijin) to a musician, I would prefer to
be compared to Gordon Lightfoot or Freddy Fender.
In conclusion, I am fascinated by Kanji — but I’m afraid that I am still a Kanji dilettante.
Laurence Wiig
August 9th, 2007 at 10:43 am
“… if you must compare me to anybody, I would prefer to be compared to people whose lives ended more pleasantly than the abovementioned stars.”
Oh my goodness! WHAT was I thinking?!?! Was it some kind of morbid Freudian slip on my part?! Reminds me of a thank-you note I recently received from a woman I’d interviewed for an article. She said, “There’s a place for you in journalists’ heaven.” Although I knew she meant well, I kept wondering if a death threat were hidden in there somewhere! I told her I hoped the journalists’ heaven can wait, ’cause I’m in no hurry to get there.
Mark Spahn and Wolfgang Hadamitzky: You’re so right to call them TRULY INSPIRATIONAL GAIJIN KANJI HEAVYWEIGHTS!!! Couldn’t agree more! They’re my heroes–much more than any rock star, actually.
Halpern, too, not because of SKIP (which I still can’t grasp, though I haven’t really tried very hard) but because he’s the only one (among the panoply of kanji demigods who have written books on my shelves) who has nailed down the meaning of particular characters in certain compounds (e.g., 中 as “to be subjected to the harmful effects of (poison)” in 中毒する (chūdoku suru: to get poisoned, to be addicted) vs. “average” in 中以上 (chūijō: above average). Man, those macrons in the 7th comment are coming in handy!
John DeFrancis: good call. Same with Mary Sisk Noguchi.
Another one: Victor Mair, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who debunked the prevalent myth that 危機 (kiki: crisis) breaks down as “danger” + “opportunity.” Of course, Mair’s investigation of the matter goes so deep that I couldn’t make sense of it until brilliant Matt of No-Sword (http://no-sword.jp/blog) broke it down for me: “The idea behind this myth is that the Chinese word for crisis implies something positive, like the English word ‘opportunity’. This is because the character 機 can mean ‘favorable moment’ in some contexts. But it doesn’t mean this in the word for ‘crisis’, and Chinese people don’t think of a crisis that way either.”
Anyway, back to the nominations for the kanji Hall of Fame, I maintain that anyone who knows about gusuku as a yomi for 城 deserves a place there (as does brilliant Matt).
It seems that now there’s a new thing one can shoot for, in addition to kanji proficiency and passable Japanese (as if those weren’t hard enough to achieve!).