So what is today's grammar point? Well, luckily, we have two again this week. We have OSORE GA ARU and NADO (NANKA and NANTE include).
So, let's start, okay?
OSORE GO ARU literally translates to "have a fear". Sadly, I do not use this particular form very often, and I wonder if I need to do some soul searching in order to find out why I don't really have any fears.
But that's really neither here nor there, is it?
Before we explain the grammar point, let's first put it into the context of the manga above. I'm not going to translate this word for word because that is just far too tedious! But the gist is that last Japan-born Red Crested Ibis died on October 10th. Then Earthman hears a noise and looks over to see that a Japanese Killifish and a Japanese Throughwort cursing that they are going to be next on the news.
It's a four panel comic... and the last frame is certainly not a punchline. Kind of sad, really...
So, in any case, beneath the comic there is a little text explaining the comic (which is just good writing, right? You should always have to explain what you mean when you're done...).
メダカやフジバカマ（秋の七草の一つ）など、日本固有の動植物のうち、およそ２７００種も絶めつのおそれがあるんですね。The Japanese Killifish and Japanese Throughwort (one of the seven autumn blooms), as well as 2700 other species unique to Japan, are in danger of going extinct.
I translated this as "in danger of" because, really, that's just the best way to word it in English. But in general, "worried that", and "scared that" seem to be the way to go.
Easy, right? I know! But before I go on to other important things, I'll explain the how to compose it:
Noun or Dictionary Form of Verb + OSORE GA ARU
Example:
遅くなる恐れがある！I'm worried we'll be late!
Okay, so no on to NADO.
NADO function like a particle, so it doesn't really have a meaning. You use it when you're trying to denote something as an example. I usually TOKA in these instances, though I don't think they are completely interchangeable. I really should look it up.
So, for the sentence above, the structure is: メダカやフジバカマなど
Notice the YA? That's pretty helpful, because as we know, that particular indicates that item is among other items. Combine that NADO, and you have a sentence that reads as "Things like Medaka and Fujigama"
Now that boring stuff is done with, let's talk about something a bit more pressing than Japanese grammar. I'm not going to claim it's less boring than grammar, but it is probably a bit more of a pressing issue.
The Red Crested Ibis is near extinction, and as the comic states, the last one in Japan did die in 2003. Fortunately, while the range of the ibis is significantly less than it had been, they still survive in China. In 2008, ten new birds were reintroduced into the wild in Japan. I haven't been able to find any information about how they are doing now, but I have high hopes.
The Japanese Killifish (or rice fish, named because they live in rice paddies) and the Japanese Throughwort is not yet in danger, nor do I think they will be, but that is the point of the comic I think. It supposed to say that things that once were populous could suddenly disappear too.
The source for the manga is at the following website:
Also, the complete archive of Ganbare Chikyuuman can be found here:
No comments:
Post a Comment